


The Snow Queen

by Deadlyflames



Category: Brave (2012), Epic (2013), Frozen (2013), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Megamind (2010), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-05-28 03:52:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 71,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6314278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deadlyflames/pseuds/Deadlyflames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elsa Arendelle, the heiress to a billion dollar company, struggles daily, trying to get through high school without revealing her powers and using her abilities to save the city of Insinius from countless threats and villains. Unfortunately, in her world, villains far outnumber the heroes. </p>
<p>Jackson Overland died when he was 15 years old. And as a result, his spirit Jack Frost was created. But instead of staying dead, Jackson was brought back to life and Jack Frost was once again joined with his body. Jackson now has an ability to become Jack Frost at will. <br/>The only problem is he doesn't exactly use his powers for good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind."
> 
> Jim Morrison

~Elsa~

It had been an accident. Elsa hadn't meant to cause that storm. She tried to calm herself down, to stop her emotions from feeding the clouds. But she had been so angry.

The 7 year old had been punished when she froze the ballroom in order for her 5 year old sister, Anna, and her to go ice skating. Elsa's parents had reprimanded her, telling her that her power was getting out of hand. They told her it was reckless of her to be using the power so frivolously. She had tried to defend herself, saying that she was getting better at controlling it and that she wasn't hurting anyone.

Her parents retaliated, claiming that it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt or even worse, killed. Following that statement, the sent the girl to her room, scolding her as they shut the door in her face. Elsa had never been more furious.

She clenched her hands tightly, making four shallow crescents in her palms. She felt the shards of ice prickle along her skin. Heavy snow showered around her and dark ice swirled underneath her feet. The storm inside her clashed and battled against her self control. It pushed and pushed, being continuously fueled by her fury. She thought of her parents' judgemental faces as they slammed her bedroom door. She thought of them chiding her for a force she had no real control over. Her rage ended the war as Elsa let out a long cry of frustration, releasing the blizzard into the outside world.

She didn't know Anna was downstairs playing hide and seek with their housekeeper, Gerda.

She didn't know her parents were out doing business in the city as the storm unfurled, eddied, and froze everything in sight.

She only knew something was wrong when Gerda came up to her room and said something so simple yet so shattering.

"You need to get your coat, Elsa." She could see the tears shining in her eyes. "There's been an accident."

An accident.

The hospital wasn't a far drive, luckily. But that short passage of time felt like an eternity. The child glanced continuously between the window and her younger sister, who sat blissfully unaware of what was going on.

When they got to the hospital, the doctor approached them at an agonizingly slow pace wearing a somber expression.

He said that her parents had been driving home, when the car had swerved on a large patch of ice and then crashed.

He said that the storm had prevented the ambulance from arriving at the scene faster.

He said there was nothing that could have been done.

But Elsa knew that was a lie. There was plenty that she could have done. If she had just known how to control it. If she had just behaved and concealed her anger and emotions.

It had been an accident.

~Jack~

Jackson watched with a gleeful smile as his sister skated across the pond. The moonlight casted a silver shine on her chocolate brown hair. Pippa had insisted that they go skating that night as soon as she saw that the pond was frozen. And Jackson was never capable of denying her anything.

Jackson started skating around the pond as well, he began chasing after his sister. Pippa giggled as she tried to skate away, but a sharp crack beneath her feet caused her to freeze in place. Her brother stopped directly behind her and looked in horror as the ice began to break beneath her feet.

"Pippa," he yelled. "Don't move."

Jackson started taking off his skates and put them down beside him. He noticed his little sister wobble on the ice. She gasped when she heard another sharp crack beneath her feet. His heart jolted in his chest.

"It's okay, it's okay," he reassured her quickly. Jackson was desperate to distract his sister from the danger beneath her. He watched the spider web cracks emanate beneath her feet with a weary gaze. "Don't look down, just look at me."

"Jack," she whispered in fear, "I'm scared."

"I know. I know," he said softly, trying to calm her. "But you're gonna be alright. You're not gonna fall in. Uhh, we're gonna have some fun instead."

"No we're not," she yelled at him.

"Would I trick you?" he said jokingly, trying desperately to ease his sister's nerves.

"Yes!" Pippa yelled back. She was fighting back tears of fear. "You always play tricks."

He laughed at that, even though there shouldn't be anything to laugh about. "Well, alright," he laughed softly, trying to inch closer to her without jeopardizing her safety. "Well, not, not this time. I promise. I promise. You're going to be...you're going to be fine."

Jack fixed his gaze on her, even as her eyes filled with fearful tears that were hard for him to look at. He kept his focus on her and forced himself to be calm.

"You have to believe in me," he told her truthfully, because he knew that without her faith in him, he was doomed to fail.

Pippa took a big gulp of breath and gave him a small smile through her fear.

With that brave smile given to him as a gift, he felt a bright fire light up within him. Her bravery transferred to him and he gave her a bright smile of his own.

"You wanna play a game?" he asked playfully. "We're going to play Hopscotch! Like we play every day!"

Pippa nodded eagerly, feeling more reassured with her brothers calmness.

"It's as easy as one," he reached a long leg out to the side and hopped over. And when he hopped on that leg he wobbled dramatically. "Wooaaah!"

Pippa giggled a bit at the sight.

Jack jumped again, landing on his other foot.

"Two."

He kept his eyes on his baby sister as he made another leap. He was closer to her, but not close enough, if only he could reach her. From the corner of his eye, he saw a long stick that curved like a shepherd's staff. It looked long enough.

He jumped again and landed beside the stick, only a few metres from his sister.

"Three," he finished with a proud grin. His arms were spread wide when he turned to face her. He bent to pick up the staff and extended it towards Pippa. She looked at him nervously.

"Alright, now it's your turn," he held the stick out to her.

She took her first step and the ice cracked. A sound that made him feel sick. She stepped again, and he inched closer to her. And then with her last step, he hooked the curve of the staff around her waist and flung Pippa to the side. The force of this movement propelled her to safety and forced him onto the cracks in the ice.

He watched his sister tumble across the solid ice, out of harms way. The sight of his sister safe made him smile, but then he heard a loud crack beneath his feat. Before he had time to process the danger he was in, he was plunged into the freezing water. Jackson heard his sister scream out his name.

Jackson was sinking in the water, deeper and deeper. He could feel his heart seize in panic. He tried to swim upwards, but he lost all control of his muscles. He was too cold. And he couldn't breathe. His lungs were burning and begging for oxygen. But he couldn't breathe. He felt his heart pounding in his ears. But the rapid beat was slowly becoming weaker and weaker.

He couldn't move.

He couldn't breathe.

It was so cold.

He closed his eyes.

...

The darkness was the only thing he could see. The he could only feel the piercing cold on his skin. Fear was the only thing that raced through his mind.

But when he caught the sight of the moon shining above him, he felt the fear and darkness being chased away. He felt the cold seep into his skin and flow through his bloodstream. The silver shine of the moon seemed to pull him up from the water.

The ice cracked above his head and he was pulled by the brightness into the light. There were chips of ice clinging to his skin when he was pulled out from the water and into the crisp air. He couldn't remember anything. Who he was. What he was. Where he came from. He only knew the cold.

The cold and the moon.

He was bathed in the silver beams of moonlight and pulled up high above the lake, so that he was suspended in the air. He heard a whisper as he stared at the big bright moon. It was only one thing. A name.

Jack Frost.

That was his name. He was sure of it. And as he was lowered to the icy floor, the cracks from where he emerged were smoothed over when his feet touched the surface. It was like he refroze the surface on his own. He looked at the moon again, it's bright silver glow enveloping him and making him feel content and safe, despite the lack of knowledge of himself and the cold night. He smiled up at the moon.

Briefly, he felt a tug at his chest and he gasped for air, even though he didn't feel the need to breathe. But the moment was soon forgotten as he stumbled onto an odd looking stick lying on the ice. The end was curved like a shepherd's staff and when he touched it with his toes, a thick layer of frost lined the outside of the wood. He knelt down to examine it and picked it up gingerly. Accidentally, he dropped one end of the stick and when the end hit the ground, frost patterns erupted from the staff and onto the ice. He looked at the staff in amazement. His blue eyes widening in awe.

Jack felt the tug at his chest again, this time it was much stronger and he felt himself jerking forward violently. But then it was gone. He stood there in shock, catching his breath. It felt like something was trying to pull him somewhere, somewhere that he felt he was supposed to be.

He shook off the feeling and turned his attention back onto the staff. He approached one of the surrounding trees and touched the curved end of the staff to the bark of the tree. Swirls of frost erupted from the staff and coated the tree. He tested the tree on his other side and watched as the ice designs entrapped the trunk. A wide grin split across his face.

With joyful laughter, the boy began to run, trailing the staff behind him and creating elaborate frost patterns on the frozen pond. He couldn't contain his excitement. He continued to laugh and run, until suddenly he was lifted up into the air. The wind had blown him off the ground as if he were no more than a piece of paper. He screamed in excitement as the wind threw him around. This feeling of freedom and exhilaration was incredible and addictive. He looked down at the lake from his place in the sky and a wide grin split his face. His grin vanished when he was once again pulled by a strong powerful force. But this time it didn't stop. He was plucked from the sky and an invisible force whipped him through the air at a frightening speed. He flew past the forest line and then past buildings and houses. Jack didn't think he would ever stop being pulled, until finally he finally hit something with a smack.

...

Jackson Overland sat up with a startled gasp. Wide brown eyes looked around in alarm. He was sitting in a hospital bed hooked up to and IV and a plethora of machines. All his memories flooded back to him. He remembered he and his sister skating. He remembered falling into the ice in after he saved his sister from the same fate. He remembered his strange and brief time as Jack Frost.

What the hell had that been about?

"Jack!"

Jackson turned his head to look where the shout had come from and saw his little sister standing in the doorway with a giant grin on her face. There were tears cutting paths down her face as she ran to her big brother and jumped on the hospital bed. She wrapped him in a suffocating hug, crying hard into his chest.

"They said you wouldn't ever wake up," she sobbed. "But I knew you would make it. I just knew it."

Jackson looked down at his sister with a look of confusion.

"What happened Pippa?" He asked the little girl softly. "I thought I fell through the ice."

She nodded, not tearing her face away from his chest. "I went to get help, but when we pulled you out of the water, you weren't breathing and you were cold as ice," she cried hysterically, he had trouble understanding her. "They said it was a miracle you survived but that you would never wake up from your coma, but you did. You woke up."

The hospital gown was soaked from her tears. Jack could only stare down at her in shock.

"I was in a coma?" He whispered in disbelief. "For how long?"

She looked up at him with puffy red eyes. "It was weeks," she answered. "But I knew you would wake up. I never stopped believing in you."

He smiled down at her softly and wrapped his arms around her torso. His mother soon came in and he was once again attacked with a tight hug and smothered by his mother's worrying questions.

Being surrounded by his loved ones filled him with a profound warmth that spread through his entire body. That is, except for a small portion of his heart, where he could feel a numb and cold piece of him that refused to disappear.

Jackson's mind wandered over to Jack Frost, and he wondered if it truly was just a dream.


	2. Unnaturals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "In the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar, but in a city, with its blaze of lights, it is unnatural, hostile and menacing. It is like a monstrous vulture that hovers, biding its time."
> 
> W. Somerset Maugham

Insinius has been dealing with unnaturals for a very long time. Though most people do not know exactly how long they had been around for. Most think that the unnaturals started with Metro Man. But unbeknownst to them, that was only when the unnaturals across the world started becoming more public. In truth they had existed for much longer than that.

The city of Insinius was founded on the seaside, at a particular area of the ocean where strange things were said to happen. Natives claimed that the area was unholy and haunted by a particularly vengeful spirit. But the founders did not heed the warning and soon the flocks of settlers came from the home land and made a town on the edge of the water.

But eventually, some did notice the reason why the Natives considered the area haunted.

Creatures, unknown to the settlers, would emerge from the depths of the water and attack those living in the town. These monsters weren't known to any human eyes, and they were extremely dangerous. But soon after these creatures started appearing, the unnaturals started coming out of their hiding places in order to stop them.

Unnaturals, a rare kind of person, with abilities that could be described as magical. Abilities that would have them labeled as witches, monsters, freaks. Abilities that were often used for the good of humanity, but treated with the upmost disdain.

No one really knew where these people came from, or where they acquired their talents. But it was assumed to be a curse by those who possessed these abilities.

Most of these people were kept in shadow for years, not daring to emerge and create a stir among the public. Humans did not react well to the supernatural, that lesson had been learned long ago. If there was even a whisper of an unnatural, there was usually a witch hunt that would follow. So they stayed silent and hidden, scattered across the earth, avoiding the death that had plagued their kind for centuries.

But one unnatural residing in Insinius decided to take a stand against the creatures, and used their powers to destroy them. No normal human would be able to defeat such monsters, so the unnatural took it upon themselves.

This unnatural and others like them that came about over the years, would go out and confront the things that came out of the ocean. They would use they're abilities and kill these things before they could strike the town. The unnaturals protected the city in secret, keeping the creatures from invading their home.

This was the way things were done for decades, until one day when instead of the sea, the creatures came from the sky.

Two alien pods fell to Insinius during the seventies, when the city had evolved from a small town to an enormous and very populated urban area. One pod fell into the estate of the richest man in the city. In this pod, was a young Metro Man, a human looking alien blessed with strength, flight and invulnerability. The other landed in a prison yard. In that pod was Metro Man's long time rival, Megamind, a blue skinned alien with an enormous head and an even larger intellect.

Metro Man was the worlds first public superhero. And once he and Megamind had stepped into limelight, fighting an epic battle of good and evil, the unnaturals of the world started following in suite. Superheroes started appearing around the world, seemingly out of nowhere. A boy in Africa, with the ability to turn invisible. A girl in Denmark, who can swim faster than any fish and communicate with the animals of the sea. A woman in China with the power to manipulate and create illusions. Along with the heroes came super villains, willing to rip the world that had treated their kind so cruelly apart. To match the African boy, came a super villain that could control minds. A woman who could shift her form. A man with extreme strength.

The world authorities weren't completely sold on unnaturals becoming superheroes, but given they got such a positive reaction from the general public, no one wanted to risk the political backlash that would come from ostracizing them. So they allowed the unnaturals to have their spotlight and left most of the unnatural problems to the new heroes, stepping in when they couldn't handle it on their own or when the risk was too large. And just like that, unnaturals became a mostly accepted part of society and were placed under protection acts in a flurry of different countries. 

As more unnaturals came into the public eye, the creatures from the sea appeared less and less until they suddenly stopped altogether. And since very few knew of their existence, they were easily forgotten, and their disappearance went unnoticed.

For seventeen years, Unnaturals went from hiding away from the world in the darkest of corners, to becoming superheroes. Though there was only a few in the world, less than twenty that were known, they're existence was accepted and they were not as nearly despised as they had been before.

But things were changed in Insinius, when during a typical encounter with Megamind, Metro Man was murdered by his nemesis. In a cruel twist of fate, he turned out to be powerless against copper, and Megamind unknowingly exploited this weakness. It had been completely unexpected, to see the super villain actually succeed and in turn to see the all powerful super hero fail. But it had happened. And after Metro Man's death, the city was helpless and practically served to Megamind on a silver platter.

The government didn't do much to stop him. There was talk of an evacuation and possibly a military invasion. But those ideas were still in the workshop. Megamind's sudden takeover had taken everyone by surprise, since everyone was positive that Metro Man could handle anything. And since no one in power dared to take the final step to stop a villain with a death ray, they settled with treating Megamind as the official mayor until they could find the proper way to take him out with minimal civilian casualties. 

The months that followed were some of the worst that the city had seen in years. The streets were plagued with crime, the police were too overwhelmed to stop anything, and Megamind played with the citizens like they were toys, forcing them to go about they're daily lives and keeping them trapped within the city's limits with his brain bots. He came out at random occasions with acts of violence and creating discord and panic, never getting challenged like the way he had been before. Whatever unnaturals that had been within the city before, were now staying hidden. No one wanted to take a stand against a being that had debunked the most powerful being on the earth. The situation was altogether regarded as bleak and hopeless. 

That's where our story starts, with an unnatural who's frightened of her own powers, in a city that is desperate for a hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the surname Disney deviated from the Gallo Roman personal name 'Insinius'. So that's going to be the name of the city where Elsa and everyone else lives. The other unnaturals I mentioned are based on Disney movies. But they won't be making an appearance in this story. This will only take place in Insinius.


	3. Oppression, Cruelty, Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."
> 
> Martin Luther King, Jr.

~Elsa~

Elsa smiled as flecks of snow fell on her nose and eyelashes, causing her face to glisten in the morning light. The bitter cold that blew into town with the winds of winter had frozen the entire city. Elsa thought it was a welcome change from the city's usual dreary atmosphere. Insinius had been plagued by darkness for 3 months now, and the pure white snowfall gave Elsa a sense of hope. The flakes of snow seemed to glow and sparkle, lighting up the darkness. Besides, the cold winds had never bothered her. Though she couldn't say the same about her sister.

"A-are w-we th-th-there yet?" Anna shivered violently as the wind blew her strawberry blonde hair in multiple directions. It was going to take an eternity to help her fix that mess into two braids again.

Their school wasn't even 3 blocks away from their apartment building, but Anna still couldn't stand any cold air that touched her rosy cheeks. Even if she only had to feel it for a few minutes.

"We'll be there as soon as we cross the street," Elsa assured her little sister. She made sure to stay close to Anna. It wasn't safe to travel alone in this place anymore and Elsa couldn't risk Anna getting lost in the middle of this vermin infested city.

Anna didn't appreciate being treated like a child, but to Elsa's relief, she understood. She knew how dangerous it was in the city, now that their only defender was dead.

Insinius had a high crime rate at the best of times, but for the past few months things had become steadily worse. There were robberies, murders, rapists, and any other kind of anarchy one can name, and yet they were forced to continue on with their lives as if nothing was wrong. They weren't aloud to leave or fight back. And it was all thanks to one man. A man who made sure they obeyed everything he said and stayed contained by using his millions upon millions of stupid robots. Elsa unconsciously turned her gaze to the apex of city hall, where she was sure their self proclaimed evil overlord was sitting. Looking down upon the disaster that he caused with satisfaction. She felt rage bubble within her and as a result, ice prickled up from her palms.

Elsa looked away quickly, forcing herself into a numb state of calm like she had done so many times before. She took deep breaths and continued to walk in step with her sister towards the high school.

Insinius High was by far the largest school in the area and placed right in the middle of the city. It wasn't far from their condo building, but with the morning traffic, the walk took long enough to let the winter soak into your bones. Unfortunately, Anna had always been sensitive to the cold. That didn't make winter walks very easy for her.

"Kai offered to drive us," Elsa stated with a shrug, pulling up her Prada shoulder bag. "You said that it was nice enough to walk."

Offered wasn't the right word. It was more like he insisted. With the state of the city, he knew it wasn't safe for two teenage girls to walk the streets alone. Even if it was in the daytime and one of those teenage girls had the ability to control ice and snow. But Anna had been very determined to walk.

"I'm not going to show up to school in a limo," Anna groaned. "The last thing I need is people looking at me like I'm some rich spoiled princess."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Then stop complaining," she teased, shoving her sister lightly.

Anna shot her a dirty look and her lips twitched slightly into a small smirk.

"This better not be your fault."

Elsa glared at her before crossing her arms in a huff. "Don't blame me every time it gets too cold for you," she scoffed. "But just remember that nothing is stopping me from making it colder."

Elsa usually tried to joke about her powers. She thought it might help her convince herself that it wasn't a big deal. It was nothing to worry about. But that didn't really work for her. She thought about her powers and the damage that they could cause all the time. She always felt panicked and uneasy whenever her powers were mentioned. She would prefer if the subject was avoided all together. Nobody knew about her powers aside from her sister and Kai, and she was planning on keeping it that way.

Of course, she wasn't the only one in the world with powers. Apparently there were others like her, just very very few of them. And no one with abilities similar to hers.

These people were called superheroes. Or abominations. Or the scourges of society. Or dangerous outlaws. Or even villains. But more often than not, they were called unnaturals.

There used to be one of them right in the city of Insinius. He was one that was regarded as a hero. Metro Man had been called the defender of Insinius for as long as Elsa could remember. When she was little she dreamed of meeting him and showing him her powers. She thought that he would teach her how to be a hero. He had been her role model back in the day.

That was before the accident with her parents.

And far before Metro Man's tragic death.

It had only been three months ago. And the horror of the event was still fresh in everyone's mind. That moment when they realized how truly helpless all of them were without him. And now here they were. The one who killed their beloved hero was ruling them all like a spoiled tyrant. Every crime you could imagine happening in the streets. The police didn't have enough power to stop it. The city had taken their only saviour for granted and now their world fell apart around them. Their circumstances were growing more and more bleak the more Elsa thought about it. She realized that that was probably why so many people chose to ignore what was happening in this city and preferred to live in the illusion that nothing was wrong.

When the sisters approached the front of the high school, Anna was immediately swarmed by a group of students, forcing Elsa to shuffle off to the side. She smiled fondly at her little sister as Anna waved goodbye and started giggling and talking with her friends.

Anna was a freshman in high school now and did everything in her power to make friends with everyone. She was in the school play, she was a cheerleader, and she made sure to talk to each person in all of her classes.

Elsa had always been more reserved than her baby sister, though Anna had tried to include her in her large group of friends. On more than one occasion she had tried to set her up on a date with some of the guys, which Elsa did not appreciate.

Anna herself already had a boyfriend, and Elsa was a little skeptical about that relationship. It wasn't that Hans was a bad guy from what she could tell. She just wasn't sure about Anna dating anybody. That was probably the protective big sister talking. She was only 14 after all.

While Elsa avoided the large group of people, she found herself ambushed by a mass of flaming curly hair and the tiny girl that it belonged to.

"Elsa!" Merida yelled as she draped an arm casually across the blonde's shoulders. "You wouldn't believe what my mom made me do today."

Elsa smirked slightly at her long time best friend. "Did she make you wash your hair?"

Merida shot her a deadly look. "No," she sneered. "She made me buy the most ridiculous dress on the weekend. That stupid banquet is going to be the most insufferable thing in the world."

She was of course talking about the Christmas banquet that was being thrown for Insinius' most elite and prestigious citizens. She and Merida had both been invited to the event due to their family names.

The Arendelles and the DunBrochs were some of the oldest and wealthiest families in the city. They had been a part of the elite since they were born, whether they wanted to be or not.

Merida's father was once business partners and good friends with Elsa's father. The girls had practically grown up together, being dragged to these events. Their mutual dislike for the pomp and aristocrats was what made them become friends in the first place.

Elsa wanted to question the sanity of throwing such an event at a time like this. With the death of Metro Man, it wouldn't be very productive to throw a very expensive party for the elite that is just asking to get crashed by some idiots with guns. But that was the state of mind among the privileged class. The crime was mostly affecting the 99%. They were the ones being beat on. If the rest weren't being affected, why should they cancel an event that had been around for ages?

Elsa felt her stomach churn at that thought and she clenched her hands, trying to quell the uncomfortable twisting in her gut.

Merida was ranting about the ridiculously tight dress she was being forced to wear as the two walked through the school hallways. "I thought I was going to pass out on the spot," she groaned. "I don't know how I'm going to survive that stupid party. We should ditch together."

Elsa grimaced at the idea. As the head of the Arendelle family, she had to be at these events, or it would reflect badly on herself, her family name, and her family's company. Then Kai would be pissed at her and Anna would be even worse. She wasn't ready to test those waters. Even if she really didn't want to attend a party that was a disaster waiting to happen.

"Sorry Mer," she shrugged with an apologetic smile. "I have to go, Anna's been looking forward to it all month."

"Ugh," Merida growled to herself. "But I'm literally going to die if I stand out on that floor for more than ten seconds."

"You think you've got it bad," a new voice joined in from beside them. "At least you didn't spend 29 hours listening to your dad rant that you would be more likely to find a dress than a good suit because of how scrawny you are."

Elsa turned to her other side to look at the gangly brunet boy who joined their conversation.

"Hey Hiccup," Elsa smiled softly at him.

Though Merida was her best friend, she and Hiccup had been close friends since preschool. Both of them were more or less outcasts and kept to themselves. His father, the police commissioner, was best friends with Merida's father, which made sense, given how similar they were. The three of them had been best friends for years.

"God, I can't wait till I can leave town and never hear that name again," the teen sighed dramatically.

Howard Haddock the Third was Hiccup's real name, but the nickname had stuck with him ever since preschool when he had a hiccup attack in the middle of nap time. No one had ever let him forget it, though not many people remembered how he got that name in the first place. He had gotten used to it, even when he was still slightly annoyed with it.

"I think it's cute," Elsa shrugged and smirked at the look of distaste on his face. "It gives you character."

"Yeah, that's all I need," he complained, "More quirks. I'm never going to get a girlfriend with a name like Hiccup."

Merida snorted. "True that," she guffawed.

He glared at her. "Who asked you?"

Elsa rolled her eyes as the two of them continued to argue whilst they walked through the hallways.

That was until their banter was rudely interrupted by a certain jerk on a skateboard, ramming into Hiccup from behind. Hiccup collided with the ground with a loud slap, while the boy/assaulter simply jumped off his board and landed with the grace of a cat. He flicked his skateboard up into his hand like it was nothing.

"Sorry about that HICcup," he snickered, dramatically hiccuping and earning laughter from his friends and groupies. "But look at it this way, you might hit the record for most face plants in a lifetime. I mean, God knows your more than halfway there."

Merida hauled Hiccup to his feet and he glared at the boy in front of him with a deadly fire in his eyes.

"Funny Jackson," he sneered. "Do you write your own material?"

Jackson Overland smirked proudly and leaned against the locker behind him.

"I'm actually an improviser," he shrugged nonchalantly, "You should take notes on my work kid. You might actually learn how to get a life."

Merida snarled at him and stood protectively in front of Hiccup. Jack's lean form towered over her, but she refused to back down. Hell, she probably didn't even notice. Her blue eyes were burning with anger and she stood up to him with the ferocity of a mother bear.

"Back off Jackson," she growled at him, poking him in the chest with her finger. "I get that you want to impress your fanboys, but you're only making yourself look like a dick."

Jackson's eyes widened in mock surprise, but a bright grin split his face. The students surrounding them started chortling and let out a cohesive "Oooh'. Merida didn't pay them any mind. Her eyes were fixed on Jackson's arrogant smirk.

"Simmer down, red," he held up his hands defensively. "I didn't mean to offend your boy toy. Though personally, I think you could do better. If you owned a hairbrush, that is."

Merida was practically fuming and Elsa feared that she was going to jump at him and try to scratch his eyes out. So she decided to intervene before things got too violent and Merida got arrested.

"Don't you have anything better to do Jackson?" She asked, calmly pushing a red faced Merida away from him. She was doing this for his own safety and wanted some credit for that. "Because this is starting to look like a pathetic plea for attention."

Jackson's smirk vanished for a split second before coming back with full force, wider and more wicked than before.

"Damn, I didn't know you could speak," he chuckled, pushing himself off the wall and sauntering up to her. "It's nice that the ice princess decided to climb down from her pedestal and grace me with her presence."

Elsa's blue eyes locked with his brown ones and her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. She could feel shards of ice prickling her palms. She balled her hands into fists in order to stop herself from letting her emotions get the better of her. She had to keep herself under control.

"It's too bad you dress like a nun," he muttered softly. He kept getting closer and closer, stopping only inches from her face. He reached up and touched a stray lock of hair that had fallen from her tight bun. She resisted the urge to recoil away from him as he curled her hair within his fingers. He wanted to get a reaction out of her and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her flustered. "And act like one too. I bet your pretty hot without all the layers."

Elsa was grinding her teeth together in frustration as his fingers released her lock of hair and traveled down the side of her face, down to her neck. She felt the anger build up inside of her, and her powers were begging her to blast him in the face with ice.

"Would you like to prove me right?" he whispered suggestively. His smile made Elsa feel sick.

At last, losing her patience and control, she placed her hands flat against his chest, hoping that he didn't feel the cold through his hoodie, and shoved him back as hard as she could.

~Jack~

The force and suddenness of the push caught Jackson off guard, and he stumbled back into the lockers. His back collided painfully with the metal and his bones were ringing from the impact. That was going to bruise.

"Bitch," he hissed at the platinum blonde in from of him. He didn't care if she was pretty, he wasn't going to let a spoiled princess toss him around. "What the hell is your problem?"

The rich bitch just flicked her bangs out of her eyes with a look of disinterest that drove him up the wall.

"Right now, you," she replied, her tone cold as ice. "Do me a favour, and go be a jackass somewhere else."

She turned on her heel and dragged the redhead and the dork down the hallway.

"Classic Hiccup," his friend Shannon, labeled Snotlout by himself, laughed. "Getting girls to fight his battles for him."

"Well," Jackson shrugged with a carefree grin. "You can't expect the little guy to stand up for himself."

"But we can expect Jack to get rejected by the ice princess," Astrid snarked. "I'm absolutely shocked that your infinite charm didn't sway her."

Jackson rolled his eyes and smirked as he shoved her shoulder lightly. "Haw haw," he sneered. "At least I wasn't checking out the biggest geek in existence."

Astrid's eyes narrowed on him. "I wasn't even looking at that dweeb," she stated, flipping her braid over her shoulder. He did notice the way her cheeks got redder, but decided not to call attention to it. "I don't know what you were imagining."

"Sure you don't," he chuckled. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and dropped his skateboard to the ground. "I'll see you guys later."

As Jackson, skated down the hall, more than a few girls stopped to stare, giggling excitedly when they received his charming smile. He was only a junior, but he was probably the most popular and best looking guy in the high school. It wasn't surprising that he had so many followers.

Of course he couldn't win over every girl. The evidence of that was showcased this morning. But Elsa Arendelle was a spoiled snobby frigid bitch. And he was pretty sure she didn't like anyone ever, so he didn't count her.

But something about her was strange. It wasn't the fact that she was a total hottie who only mingled with the outcasts. It was the fact that for the brief moment that she placed her palms against his chest, he felt an undeniable chill. And when she left, he swore that he could feel the tiniest of ice shards on his sweater. He couldn't shake the feeling that she was so much more than she appeared.

Was it possible that she was an unnatural?

He shook the thought out of his head before it could settle. It was a ridiculous idea and he was probably just imagining things, but the stupid what if's and her sharp, ice cold blue eyes haunted him for the entire day.

Who the hell did she think she was, anyway? Did she really think her money and family name made her better than him? He didn't know where she got the gall to shove him. He had only been playing around for Christ's sake. None of these stuck up rich kids could take a joke.

He could barely focus on anything except for her that day. Surprisingly, she was in a few more of his classes than he had realized. He had just never noticed her until now. Jackson found himself staring at her during class, trying to figure her out. Had it just been his imagination? Maybe her hands were just unnaturally cold because she had really sensitive skin and she had just been outside. Maybe the ice had come from the snowfall outside. Maybe he was just crazy.

Or maybe he wasn't.

His mind wandered to Jack Frost and his ability to control the ice and snow. His complete dominance over the cold and winter entirely.

Could there be other unnaturals like him in the world? Could Elsa Arendelle be one of those people?

The thought made him cringe. There was no doubt that if she was one of those freaks, than she would most likely be one of those uppity hero types. She did seem like that kind of pretentious person that would make themselves a 'hero'.

And someone like that was the last thing he needed around. She might even be a threat to him.

That was, if she really was an unnatural.

He resisted the urge to scream in frustration. Why was he even thinking about her so much? If she was more than she appeared or just a spoiled brat with cold hands, it didn't matter. He didn't care about her anyway. In the grand scheme of things, she didn't matter. She was only a speck in his life.

'Cause Jack Frost was going to live forever.

~Elsa~

Anna pulled a begrudging Elsa down the sidewalk towards their condo building. She was getting horrendously impatient as she tried to force her older sister to go faster.

"Come on Elsa," she grunted. She pulled Elsa with all of her strength. Elsa yelped as she was tugged forward so forcefully that she stumbled on her feet. Anna quickly let go of her and smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

"What are you rushing for Anna?" She asked. "The mall will still remain open if we walk home."

"But we need the time to try on dresses and shoes and jewelry," Anna blurted. "The Christmas party is only a few weeks away. And all the good dresses will be..."

Anna trailed off as she turned her head to look down a long alley that they were passing on their way home. In the darkness of the alley, she could make out two figures. Two men, one slightly larger than the other, the smaller one was dressed in a crumpled business suit.

The larger one roughly shoved the smaller man into the brick wall. The large man pinned the small one to the wall by his jacket lapel, and started brutally kicking his ribs and stomach. Elsa felt as though she could feel each kick, crushing her abdominal organs and bursting arteries.

Anna gasped at the sheer brutality and viciousness of the act that was playing out before her very eyes.

On impulse, she jolted forward, with the intention of somehow stopping the crime and saving the day, but a hand landing on her shoulder halted the probable suicide mission.

Anna could feel the ice crystals forming in her sister's cold palm. Elsa was shaking with emotion and Anna looked at her expectantly. If anyone could help that man, it was her.

Elsa, however, couldn't move from her spot. All she knew was that she had to keep Anna from doing something stupid. Things like this were happening all the time in this city. It wasn't like crime was rare these days. But seeing it right in front of her was different from seeing it in the news. The sight shook her to the core.

She knew that she should do something, and she knew that she had the means to help. The snow that was falling around her was proof of that. She could do something. So why didn't she? Why would she only stand there, shell shocked while a man was getting beaten into the ground?

Elsa looked down at her hands and saw that to her horror, frost was creeping up her sleeves. The fear and self doubt that was building up inside of her was forcing the ice out of her. She noticed the snowfall becoming heavier and swirling around her in a fast vortex.

No, she told herself. Keep it in. Don't feel.

The snow dispersed slightly, but thanks to her emotions rolling inside of her, the snow didn't stop and the frost continued to crawl up her arms swirl across her clothes.

"Elsa?" Anna asked her hesitantly, looking at her expectantly. The man had stopped kicking and was now leaning over the other man, rummaging through his suitcase and wallet.

Elsa knew that she should help. She should do something because it was the right thing to do. Wasn't that what Kai had always told her to do? Stand up for what was right and stand against what was wrong?

But she was too terrified to do anything or even to move. She was scared of getting hurt. She was scared of getting Anna in danger or worse. And she was terrified of her powers getting out of hand again. She was terrified that she would do something wrong and get in trouble. She was terrified that she might do something she would regret, something she couldn't take back or fix.

So she stood there, frozen in place as the mugger took the other man's belongings, took off down the other end of the alley and disappeared around the corner.

As soon as the man was gone, Anna took off down the alley before Elsa could stop her and knelt before the man. Elsa slowly walked over, knowing Anna was disappointed in her for not doing anything. She pulled out her phone and called EMS. The man's face was bloody and swollen and he was barely recognizable. Elsa winced as he let out a horrible garbled sound and coughed up blood, some of it splattering across Anna's uniform. He tried to apologize to her, but his voice was so weak and raspy that Elsa couldn't hear what he was saying. He clutched his stomach, groaning and crying from the pain he was in. Given his state of injury, Elsa was sure that some of the damage would be permanent. She wondered what his name was, if he had a family, and if interfering really would have helped him.

Elsa turned away from him and Anna quickly, unable to look at him anymore. But the image of this man she didn't know, broken and beaten down, had been burned into her mind.


	4. Hero Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times when the 'hero' within us is revealed."
> 
> Bob Riley

"Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times when the 'hero' within us is revealed."

Bob Riley

~Elsa~

After Elsa had called 911, the man continued to cough and sputter, occasionally regurgitating his own blood. Anna refused to leave his side, giving him her support and doing her best to keep him awake. Elsa was afraid he might have a concussion. As he groaned in pain on the cold cement, Elsa paced the alley. She nearly gagged on the stench of blood. She couldn't understand how her sister could stand it.

Elsa continuously looked back at the man lying on the ground, and each time she did, she was filled with more guilt and regret. She could have done something, but she just stood there. Anna was ready to leap into the line of fire when she saw someone else was in danger, but how many people in this city would do something like that? As the world crashed down around them, how many people would step up to help keep it from falling? And how many would stand and just watch, like Elsa did?

The ambulance came within ten minutes, and the man was carted away on a stretcher casting one last grateful look towards both of the girls. The two police officers that showed up had to question both of the sisters. They were clearly tired out of their minds. There were bags under the officer's eyes and their voices were hoarse. Elsa felt a wave of sympathy. Ever since the downfall of Metro Man, the police had been working to the bone to get the crime rate down, but they weren't even making a dent. With Megamind always looming over their heads, causing destruction and chaos for his own personal amusement, there were just too many problems for the police to deal with.

When Anna said her name to the cops, the dull look in their eyes vanished and was replaced with shock.

"You're the Arendelle brats?" one of the cops gawked. The other officer elbowed him in the ribs, "I mean, daughters?"

Anna frowned slightly and nodded. The second cop immediately went to the car and said something into his radio. Before they even knew what was happening, two more cars showed up and Anna and Elsa were both wrapped in blankets and ushered into the back of one of the cars. It was amazing how different people treated you when you revealed you were part of a centuries old, rich family.

The officers were afraid that the mugger may have seen them and said it was dangerous for them to be on the roads. Elsa wanted to point out that if the mugger wanted to attack them, he would have done so when they were in the alley, but she didn't think there would be any use in arguing with them. They still would insist on taking them to the police station for questioning.

The police station was warm, to Anna's delight. To Elsa it was slightly uncomfortable. The room smelled of coffee, freshly printed paper, and sweat. There were several different people shouting across the room and rushing around in pandemonium.

Elsa shifted in the seat as she did her best to describe the mugger. The alley had been dark and she had barely been able to see his form, let alone his face.

Anna rocked back and forth in her chair and kept glancing around the crowded room. The chaos that swarmed around her made her heart sink. These people were doing everything they could to stop the bad guys, and yet the state of the city was still horrible. If the police couldn't do anything despite their efforts, what were they supposed to do? And how much worse would things become?

Elsa glanced over at Anna, who was looking around the room, a dull hopelessness in her eyes. She reached a hand out to her sister. Anna looked over at her and gave her the softest of smiles. She took the hand that Elsa offered, squeezing it slightly. When the officer left with the incredibly not detailed sketch, Elsa and Anna were left sitting in silence with their hands joined. Anna could feel the cold emanating from Elsa's hand, along with the dusting of frost on her palms.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Anna asked softly.

Elsa didn't look at Anna and bent her head down in shame. "I don't know."

Anna's frown deepened and she looked down at her hands in contemplation. "It's getting worse, isn't it."

"Yes," Elsa whispered. She turned to look at Anna. She reached out a cold hand to her sister's face and tilted her chin upwards. Sea green eyes met with ice blue. "But I promise Anna, I won't let anything happen to you."

Anna sighed and pulled her hand away. Elsa frowned slightly.

"I'm not the only one who needs to be protected," she stated.

Elsa exhaled heavily and turned her head away from her younger sister.

"Enough, Anna," she breathed, suddenly feeling tired. "We're not talking about this again."

"But Elsa," she pleaded, her eyes shining with hope. "You have all these powers and gifts but you don't use them. You have the power to do good, real good, and you-"

"It's too dangerous, Anna," Elsa hissed, her eyes ice cold when she whipped her head around to look at her. "You know that. Things can easily get out of hand and I don't... I don't want to hurt anyone again."

Anna reached out and turned fully towards her, taking her hand again. "It wasn't your fault," she said softly, touching her sister's shoulder lightly. Elsa pushed her hand away. Anna felt her heart sink in her chest. "You can't keep blaming yourself."

Before the elder sister could reply, a gruff voice interrupted their conversation.

"Elsa? Anna?" the accented voice said. They both turned around in their seats to the red bearded police commissioner. Hiccup's father. "What are you two doing here?"

"Hello Commissioner Haddock," Anna greeted with a wave.

The hulking man offered her a grunt and a curt nod in response. That was the most friendly the man could get, so Anna was fairly pleased with herself. She smiled at him.

"There was a mugging when we were on our way to the mall," Elsa answered the commissioner's question, her voice soft and formal. "We were brought here for questioning."

"You were brought to the police station for questioning on a mugging?" He asked skeptically. "Or did the officers only bring you in when you mentioned your last name?"

"Well..." Elsa trailed off, looking down at her shoes.

"It doesn't matter," he grumbled, shaking his head in dismissal. "I'll get someone to call your butler to come pick you up."

"Are you going to find the mugger?" the younger sister asked.

"I'll get someone on it," he muttered. "I have much bigger problems to deal with right now."

He was going to drift back into the chaos of the station when Anna's strong voice cut him off.

"This is still important," Anna said, rising from her seat. "A man was almost beaten to death, and the mugger stole his phone and his wallet. He had pictures of his children in there along with his credit cards."

Stoic Haddock's stone hard face shifted slightly in anger and frustration. Anna backed away when she saw the fury in the police commissioner's eyes. He stalked toward her and his hulking form towered intimidatingly over the 14 year old. Anna stared up at him and her eyes narrowed in determination. She wasn't very good at backing down from an argument.

"You think a man getting mugged is the worst thing happening in this city," Stoic growled, his Scottish brogue much more audible. "We only have so many officers here, and more and more crimes are happening each day. You want my officers to ignore a serial killer in order to hunt down a man who stole a phone?"

"N-no," Anna replied shakily, her confidence diminishing. "But you should have some officers working on the smaller crimes while your investigators work on the more serious crimes. And besides, the man was almost killed, isn't that reason enough to go after the mugger?"

"There are officers working on those "smaller" investigations. Officers that stay up night and day in order to keep rapists and robbers from getting back on the streets and attacking little girls like you," the commissioner stated, his voice low and gravelly. "We are fighting against all odds in order to stop this city from falling. A madman is running the show, and all we can do is try to keep people from getting hurt and lock up as many criminals as we can. If you think you could run it any better, please be my guest."

Anna's mouth clamped shut and her eyes fell down to her shoes. Commissioner Haddock sighed, clearly exhausted, and walked away from the sisters. Elsa watched as her younger sister stood still amongst the rushing and panic. As Anna absorbed all the chaos around her, Elsa could practically see her seemingly boundless hope failing.

Her heart broke at the sight.

~Megamind~

A pair of bright green eyes looked down on the city of Insinius from the window of the town hall, searching for...something. The man wasn't quite sure what he was looking for. Probably just something to do.

Three months had passed since he had taken over the city and now he was bored out of his mind.

It had been fun terrorizing the city with his creations and robots for the first two months, but he was running out of ideas for his brilliant acts of villainy. How was he supposed to top destroying the town's invulnerable hero?

Megamind had commanded the people to continue with their lives as normally as possible while he thought of something evil he could do to cause discord and mayhem.

So far he wasn't coming up with anything, and for the past few days, while he had been stewing with his stolen fortune, the citizens had been forgetting about him. He could tell that from his window. The people had began to think he was just going to skulk up in the city hall for the rest of his life.

And he might just do that. God knows the citizens were dealing with enough torment with all the crime that was happening, especially after he caused that jailbreak. And torturing the people and causing evil on his own didn't fill him with the same excitement it once had. If he was honest with himself, all his actions felt pretty empty.

There was no challenge without Metro Man. No spark. No purpose to doing anything villainous. If there was no good trying to stop him, what was the point of doing anything? Nothing enjoyable would come from it.

The fact that the people were forgetting he was there only made his plight worse. He glared down at the city in annoyance. Who did these people think they were? He had terrorized their city countless times. Sure, most of those times he was met with horrible failure and a butt whooping, but he still caused some massive destruction. Especially after he had defeated his arch nemesis, the defender of the city. Metro Man had been the city's only hope. Without him protecting these sheep, they had no reason to be cocky.

Megamind just had to remind them of that. And he needed to remind himself that he was still a villain. Maybe if he did something, caused some more destruction and panic, he might feel less hollow. At the very least it would give him something to do. And who knows, maybe someone would stand up to him and he would finally get a challenge. He felt a new jolt of determination.

"Minion!" He yelled into the speaker on his watch. "Bring out the Annihilator!"

"But Sir," Minion's voice crackled through the speaker. "We haven't used the Annihilator in years. Last time we used it, we failed, like usual."

"But without Metro Man, what could possibly stop me?" Megamind giggled mischievously. "Now get it ready, it's time for us to go shopping."

~Kai~

Elsa and Anna Arendelle had been living what most would call a privileged life. They had never really worried about money or being unable to afford extravagant things. Since they were technically the heads of the wealthiest family in the city, it was no surprise that they were absolutely fine with spending their money to their hearts desire. But since neither of the girls were 18 yet, Kai felt it was his duty as their caretaker and guardian to limit their spending. He was quite grateful that under his supervision, they didn't grow up spoiled. He had always made sure to let them know that even though they were more privileged, they had no right to be frivolous or think themselves better than others. And he would like to think that his teachings in humbleness helped shape the two girls into the outstanding young woman that they were. The girls usually held a lot of self control when they went out shopping, so today he didn't really care about the expenses of their new dresses. Kai felt that since Christmas only came once a year, there was no harm in letting the girls indulge.

After hours of trying on outfits, Anna had finally decided on a deep green dress that brought out her eyes. It was perfect for the seasonal party. Elsa had already selected a dark turquoise dress that was fairly simple but still elegant.

Unfortunately for Kai, next came the accessories.

He sighed in exasperation when Anna stated that she needed shoes to match her dress. He was sure that she owned plenty of shoes that would match, but she flashed him a pleading smile and he was instantly won over. It was frustrating that these girls were aware that they had him wrapped around their fingers.

"I hope you two found everything you were looking for," Kai stated truthfully as he loaded the bags in the limousine. He had certainly had his fill of shopping. After being dragged to several different dress stores in the mall, his infinite patience was wearing thin.

Elsa offered him an apologetic smile. Kai had been the guardian of the Arendelle daughters since the tragic loss of their parents. He had served the Arendelle family for most of his life and Idun and Agdar Arendelle had trusted him as a dear close friend. Because of his ties to the family, the two parents had entrusted the care of their young daughters to him after their death.

It had been difficult, dealing with the loss of the Arendelle's and raising two children who could barely cope with the death of their parents. Not to mention Elsa's strange powers as well as Anna's seemingly boundless energy.

But despite the trials of raising two girls alone, he couldn't help growing attached to them. He loved the Arendelle daughters like they were his own. Though raising two teenage girls was proving to be more than he had been prepared for.

Elsa began to climb into the limo and Kai prepared to leave the accursed mall and finally go back to the manor. Since it was a weekend, he and the girls would be staying in the mansion instead of the condo.

Kai hadn't wanted the girls to stay in their parent's penthouse condo. The place had been left untouched like a tomb for years. All of the work that the Agdar Arendelle had been working on had been still on his desk with only a thin layer of dust on top of it. Kai had been afraid that if the girls had seen the place where there parents would live so often, it would make them upset. Elsa was still sensitive around the subject of her parents and he thought it best if they continued to live in the manor. After all, the estate was over a hundred years old and had been passed down through generations of the Arendelle family.

But to his surprise, Elsa had insisted that they live in the condo on the weekdays so they wouldn't have to always be driven to school. She argued that it would be easier for them to be in the city and that on weekends and holidays they can stay at the manor. The girl was always good at making a convincing argument, and despite her cool demeanour, the girl was willful and stubborn and Kai had no chance at changing her mind.

As Anna got ready to slip into the limo, her head snapped up and she let out a startled gasp.

"I forgot my credit card in the shoe store!" she yelled, frantically jumping out of the car and booking it towards the mall. "I'll be back."

Elsa rolled her eyes and Kai let out a sigh in exasperation. He didn't think he would be able to sleep at night when that girl was finally living on her own. She would surely forget her own head if it wasn't attached to her shoulders.

"I suppose I should be prepared to wait another hour," Kai stated calmly. He removed the keys from the ignition. "She'll probably come out of that mall with a few more pairs of shoes."

Elsa smiled gently. "Do you want me to go get her?" She offered. "I know you don't want to spend your whole day here."

Kai smiled at the girl in appreciation. Both the daughters were so kind and considerate. He couldn't help but be proud of the young women they had become.

Suddenly, the earth beneath them shook with such a force that the car almost tipped over from being so violently rattled.

People started running through the parking lot, screaming in alarm and fear. The ground continued to shake and people were stumbling around, shoving each other out of the way as they tried to escape the mass panic.

Through the chaos, Kai could here the sound of maniacal laughter that was annoyingly familiar.

Outside, controlling a giant robot that was destroying everything in its path, was a man (well, sort of man) with blue skin and an abnormally large head.

This man was an unnatural with super intelligence and a self proclaimed super villain that went by the name Megamind.

Insinius had been plagued by many villains over the years, but none of them were as impressive or persistent as Megamind. He was a near constant threat to the city with an incredible intellect and a habit of creating any and every kind of robot that could cause mayhem.

At one point he wouldn't have been able to pull this kind of thing and terrorize civilians without resistance. But ever since he destroyed Metro Man, the defender of the city of Insinius, the people were ruled and constantly attacked by this maniac. It had been three months ago that Megamind had completely obliterated the city's only hero and he had been doing nothing but let them run around and continue with their lives as normally as possible while he played in his new sandbox.

And since heroes were nonexistent and villains were plentiful in this town, it was generally it was accepted that it was unlikely he would be stopped. 

The temperature of the car was steadily dropping and he looked into the back of the limo to check on Elsa. Her eyes were wide with fear and her hands were glowing an unearthly blue. He could see frost spreading along the leather seat beneath her.

She was staring at the madman with a look of terror. The robot was tearing apart the mall, probably for no reason but entertainment purposes.

Kai felt a stab of panic. Anna was still in there, and if she didn't come out on her own soon, he was going in after her. He couldn't allow his ward to be caught in the destruction of a selfish lunatic.

"Anna's in there," Elsa whispered in fear. Her wide blue eyes were fixed on the entrance, searching through the crowd for any sign of her sister. She reached out a shaky hand to the door handle.

"Elsa," Kai said lowly in warning. He just knew from the look of cold determination in her eyes that she was going to do something reckless.

Before he could do anything to stop her, Elsa pushed open the door and ran across the parking lot, pushing her way through the crowd to the door.

"Elsa!" He screamed at her retreating form. She showed no sign of hearing him or even debating on turning back.

He lost her in the hoards of screaming people within minutes.

~Elsa~

Elsa wasn't sure what she was doing as she tried to push her way through the crowd. She had absolutely no plan. All she knew was that she had to find some way to get to Anna. Once she did that, she wasn't sure what she was going to do next.

Trying to get past all of the terrified people was nearly impossible. She felt that with each step she moved forward, she was shoved another step back. In short, she was making no progress.

People were getting fed up with her being the only person trying to push against the grain. A man that was trying to run past her shoved her to the ground in order to get her out of the way. Elsa's head hit the pavement with a slap and white spots entered her vision. She groaned in pain and her ears were ringing. It took her a second to adjust her vision and see that there were still clusters of screaming and panicked people running around her, some stepping on her hands and toes. As people ran over her, she was frequently kicked in the stomach and face.

Elsa used all her strength to get to her knees roll behind a car to escape the chaos. She was lucky to avoid being trampled to death.

Elsa could only let out raspy laboured breaths and stare straight ahead of her as the citizens ran for their lives in a mass panic.

Anna could be any one of them. Maybe she had already made it back to the limo and was waiting there for her. Or she was still trapped inside, fearing for her life.

She couldn't abandon her baby sister.

And even if Anna had escaped, it wouldn't be right for Elsa to leave the rest of these people to suffer at the hands of a super villain.

She felt something soft and cold fall onto her face and she looked up at the dark grey sky. It was snowing. Pure snow was falling from the heavens and glowing white in the darkness.

Elsa looked down at her hands, and saw the blue glow emanating from them. There were razor sharp ice shards prickling up from her palms. In her stress and fear, she had been unable to control her emotions and her powers were trying to come out. She hadn't used them and kept them bottled up inside her since the death of her parents.

She flexed her hand and snowflakes erupted from her palm and spiraled through the air.

From her place behind the car, she couldn't see the damage that was being done to the mall. But to her horror, she could hear the blood curdling screams. Screams for help. Screams for someone, anyone to save them.

The image of the man who she didn't know, lying down, beaten in the alley flashed in her mind.

Elsa narrowed her eyes on her palms and made a final decision.

She wasn't going to be a coward anymore.

She reached behind her head and let loose the tight and formal chignon that had held her hair in place. Her long tresses were released into a long and loose French braid and she whipped her bangs up onto the top of her head.

She enveloped herself in a blanket of ice that hugged the curves of her body. The ice formed cloth that wrapped around her limbs and torso. When she emerged, she was dressed in an outfit that would have made a younger her squeal in delight. She actually looked like a real hero. She had a white cape that stopped at her calves and attached to her tight fitting top. Ice gloves that were white as snow had enveloped her hands and ran all the way up her arms and stopped just below her shoulders and attached to her cape and top. With her top, only a small strip of midriff was showing and was cut off by her white tights that wrapped all the way around her legs and her feet. Even though she wasn't wearing any shoes, she could feel the sturdy soles of boots at the bottom of her tights. It was like the tights that she wore doubled as pants and boots.

Elsa had no idea that her ice powers could create clothes, but it was a pretty damn cool discovery.

She grinned down at her outfit and brushed the front of her face with her hand. More ice erupted from her fingers and formed a mask of ice to hide her features. The finishing touch to her costume.

She wasn't going to risk Megamind finding out who she was and coming to attack her later.

With that, Elsa stood from the street and looked at the giant robot that was tearing off the roof of the mall and ripping apart the stores on the inside.

She narrowed her eyes in concentration and forced out her hand. Ice flares out from Elsa's fingers and created a long path of ice on the road. Luckily the crowd had thinned out and most of the citizens were out of her way.

With a twitch of her fingers, she attached ice skates to the bottom of her quasi-shoes. It would be much faster this way.

Elsa jumped onto the path and started skating towards the mall at a frightening speed. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins and she was overcome with the excitement of the moment.

She launched herself through the doorways and skated past the people who were cowering in the stores and trying to escape. They looked at her form in awe. Even though she was just a blur of white to them, they must have known she was there to save them. It shocked her to hear the people cheering for her as she skated to the robot. The applauding made a small smile form on her lips.

As she got closer to the robot, she stopped moving her feet and allowed herself to glide forward. She began focusing on crafting a shard of ice in her hands that was roughly the size of a dagger. The robot was inside the mall now, probably breaking in from the giant gaping hole in the roof. She could see Megamind inside it, controlling its movements and making it smash at a store that was full of china and porcelain. She could see an old lady inside, standing protectively in front of a shelf that was full of ceramic china dolls. The small store was probably her life's work.

"Hey!" Elsa yelled as forcefully as she could and hurled her impromptu knife at the hulking robot. To her surprise, the ice was strong enough to do a lot of damage. The shard tore right through the metal of the robot's arm and it hung uselessly at the robots side. Elsa could only guess that she damaged the robot's circuits.

The robot turned to face her and she could see Megamind in the glass head staring down at her in shock.

"Who are you?" His voice blared through the animatron's speakers and she winced at how loud the sound was. He sounded genuinely surprised to see her.

Elsa figured that she was going to have to come up with some sort of alias, but honestly, she was coming up blank. What ice themed name could she use that wasn't completely gag worthy?

"I'm the girl who's going to kick your ass," she shouted up at the robot. Yeah, that would work, better to leave the name thing ambiguous. Creates a nice mystery.

She formed another shard of ice and chucked it at the robot. This time it punctured the torso but it didn't seem to do much damage. At least it looked like she had completely taken out the arm, given how it was just hanging limply.

"You dare challenge Megamind!" The super villain yelled in fury. He used his working robot fist to launch a punch at her and knock her off her feet.

Elsa managed to skate out of the way just before the giant metal fist could crush her. The ground shook and she almost lost her balance. She mentally thanked Kai and her parents for signing her up for figure skating when she was young. She gracefully skated around the robot and kept lining the floor with ice so she could continue evading its attacks. Spikes of ice shot up from the ground and were launched at the robot, tearing apart its legs and torso. She kept narrowly escaping Megamind's blows as she glided and twirled across the ice. She launched as many ice shards as she could at the robot's legs. She needed to knock it off its feet.

"Can't you move any faster than that?" She mocked as she danced circles around the robot. She had to admit, she was kind of showing off her skating abilities. "If that's all you got, you better throw in the towel and call it a night."

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet, my dear," Megamind growled in low warning, but Elsa could swear she heard excitement in his voice. "Your fancy ice dancing might impress the crowd, but you are no match for my intellect."

"My dear?" Elsa repeated. "What are you? A Bond villain?"

"No, I'm a super villain," he declared proudly. At that moment he pulled out a machine gun in his only functional robot arm that Elsa was completely unaware that he had. The gunfire exploded in front of her and forced her to stop in her tracks. She ducked away and slid backwards in order to avoid getting hit. The bullets whistled by her ears. Why did he choose now to fire at her? She guessed it was just because he liked being melodramatic.

Megamind used the distraction to get the better of her. While Elsa was struggling to backtrack and avoid being shot, he stopped his gunfire and used his robot arm to back hand the girl off her feet and send her flying through the air.

But before Elsa had been hit, she used all her energy to hurl one last spike of ice at the robot's most damaged leg, slicing it clean off.

Elsa hit the wall on the other side of the mall with a smack. She could definitely feel something crack when her back hit to bricks. She let out a low groan as she gradually stood from the ground. Her right leg was aching horribly, and she couldn't stand on it properly. There was a long gash running up her arm that was bleeding profusely. She would probably need medical attention.

"Ha Ha!" Megamind laughed in triumph when he saw her broken form. But a loud snap from below him cut off his celebration of victory. He looked down to see that the other leg had snapped from bearing all the weight of the robot alone. "Uh oh."

The remainder of the metal contraption went hurtling towards the earth and collided with the ground, shattering the glass head piece. Elsa winced as the crash echoed throughout the halls of the mall. She looked upon the destruction she had caused with shock and slight satisfaction.

Elsa stepped toward the carnage of the robot, the glass crunching beneath her feet was the only thing that broke the eerie silence. She slowly wandered over to the remains of debris. The robot had been completely destroyed by the fall, and within the rubble there was a bundle of groaning black leather.

She let out a deep sigh of relief. She had been terrified that she might have killed the guy.


	5. Prepare Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Prepare me for what? For getting kicked out of school? For losing all of my friends? For having to spend all of my time fighting for my life and never getting to tell anyone because I might endanger them? Go ahead! Prepare me."
> 
> Buffy Summers

~Megamind~

Megamind moaned in pain as he curled up into a ball on the floor. He didn't break any bones in the fall, but everything was aching. He was lucky the leather he wore was so tough. The shattered shards of broken glass didn't cut into his skin, but he was going to suffer some horrible bruising after that nasty fall.

The super villain flipped his cape over his head so that he could actually see. He grimaced as he sat up and observed the damage done to his precious Annihilator. The fall had done the most damage, but those ice spikes had torn apart the metal and left parts of the robot in shreds.

A shadow passed over him and he looked up at the woman standing over him. She was leaning heavily on her left leg, and she was clutching her arm where he could see red blood soaking into the white cloth of her gloves. But even in her injured state, she held her head up high with a regal dignity and stood strong.

She was certainly a hero.

Or would he call her a heroine?

This was definitely new territory for him. He had fought against one hero for years and they had a specific ritual and unspoken guidelines on how to do things. This girl was a rookie. Not only that, but she was a girl. How was he supposed to fight a girl? Were the rules different now or would it be considered sexist if he treated her differently than a male hero?

He carefully stood from the ground on shaky legs and watched as she tensed and formed a dagger of ice in her hands. He had heard of unnaturals before, but none with abilities quite like this. It was quite an incredible gift, and was like nothing he had ever seen before. And pretty powerful, given how the ice ripped straight through his robots arms.

"So," Megamind said, standing up to his full height and straightening out his cloak. He was pleased to discover he was a bit taller than the girl in front of him. That was new for him. He was so used to being completely towered over by the hero. "You're Insignias' new hero. I must admit, you're quite troublesome. But you have no idea what's in store for you. Heroes don't last long here."

The girl glared at him with icy blue eyes that pierced straight through to his soul. Now that she wasn't moving all over the place, he could actually get a good look at her. This girl was young. She couldn't be older than 25. She was pretty from what he could tell, though he couldn't see much of her face with that mask on. It wouldn't surprise him if she was gorgeous. All those hero types were. Her skin was fair and her hair was a platinum blonde. Although, it was possible that her hair was fake. She had a small but athletic build. Her costume was an almost blinding white that reminded him strongly of Metro Man. This girl didn't have the confidence of Metro Man or the charisma, but she definitely had something. He couldn't really say what it was, but it at least made her seem heroic.

Perhaps she could make a worthy enemy.

"You have some big shoes to fill," he stated as he began to circle her like a vulture. "If you plan on being a threat to me."

He couldn't help but treat a pretty girl like a common damsel in distress. Old habits die hard, as they say. Unfortunately those old habits were probably what caused his defeat.

While he took out his dehydration gun and prepared to use it on the unsuspecting heroine, she thrusted out one of her hands and before he knew what was going on, his hand and gun were trapped in a block of ice. A heavy block of ice. His hand dropped to the ground because of the weight. And the rest of his body followed. He hit the floor with an "oomph", and as soon as he did, both of his feet were trapped in another block.

"If the police get here in less than ten minutes, you shouldn't get frost bite," she stated casually. He could have sworn he saw the slightest smirk twitching at the corner of her lips.

People who had been hiding in stores and under tables were emerging from their holes and gathering around the two of them, staring at this girl in awe as she stood triumphantly over their once evil overlord. The mindless sheep applauded the new hero, surrounding them on all sides and cheering for his defeat. Many of them were filming the scene with their camera phones. Megamind could even see a professional cameraman in the back. At least he thought he was professional.

The girl seemed a bit uneasy with all the attention she was getting. Megamind felt the urge to laugh. This girl was camera shy.

Definitely not like Metro Man.

The blaring of police sirens caused the heroine's head to snap up. Her eyes widened in fear and she backed away from mob of worshipers that were slowly closing in around her. Her eyes darted around the space, looking for an exit.

With a flourish of her uninjured hand, ice spiraled from her fingertips and an ice path formed from where she was standing, down a long corridor of the mall where the crowd was thinner. Without a second thought, she somehow formed skates under her boots once again and started gliding down the path away from the chaos. Her escape was much slower than her entrance, due to her injured state, but she was still fast enough to escape without being caught or pursued by anyone. She disappeared around a corner, just as the police entered the scene. When they saw Megamind in his helpless position with his hands and feet trapped in blocks of ice, they were immediately on him. Hoisting him up to his very cold feet and getting ready to haul him off to jail. They started carting the super villain off and past the cheering mindless sheep.

It was just like old times.

Even though Megamind had been evil overlord for the last few months and had everything he could want, he felt the slightest bit of excitement and anticipation. He was almost relieved by this girl's entrance. The nostalgia of it all was intoxicating. He just couldn't help but fall back into old habits.

"We'll meet again..." He paused in his evil swearing of vengeance when he realized that he had no idea what this new hero's name was. She didn't actually say anything, she just defeated him and left. He frowned, trying to come up with a better finishing line. "This isn't the last you'll see of Megamind!"

That one was good. Leaving with a bang and the promise of revenge. He had to admit, he had missed swearing evil revenge while being dragged to jail.

~Elsa~

Elsa stumbled out of the mall, making sure to stay out of sight and ducking behind a pillar. She winced as she tore her hand away from her bleeding arm. With a flick of her wrist, the costume melted away and formed back in her original clothes. The sleeve of her turtleneck was soaked with blood. She touched the wound gingerly and winced at the sharp pain that ran up her arm. The gash wasn't very long, but it was wide and deep. Elsa wouldn't be surprised if she would need stitches. Careful to move her arm slowly, Elsa took out the braid and flicked her bangs back over her forehead. She made sure her hair was loose and almost unrecognizable.

Her leg hurt so badly, and she couldn't stand on it without her knee buckling under the weight. But she did her best to walk as quickly as possible back to the car. She avoided any direct line of people and kept to the shadows. People were now crowded around the mall, chatting excitedly with each other and flocking to the doors to catch a glimpse of the defeated Megamind.

She made sure to stay out of people's lines of vision until she got back to the limo where Anna and Kai were waiting for her. Elsa avoided eye contact with them both as she gingerly climbed into the back. She winced as she continued to hold her injured arm.

Kai and Anna got into the back of the limo with her and kept silent the until the door was closed. With the tinted windows, no one would be able to see inside. Anna let out a delighted squeal once the door shut and Kai let out a disapproving grunt.

"That was awesome!" Anna yelled at her sister, bouncing excitedly in her seat. "You completely took out that robot. Bam! Pow! I saw the whole thing and it was the best thing ever."

"You were in the mall?" She exclaimed in worry. "Are you alright? Were you hurt at all?"

"No worries Els," Anna shrugged with a carefree grin. "I was locked up in the shoe store, until you came skating by on your ice path. Where did you get the costume?"

"I made it," Elsa smiled somewhat sheepishly.

"Your ice powers can create clothes?" Anna inquired curiously.

"Apparently." Elsa glanced around nervously, "Do you think anyone would have recognized me?"

Anna shook her head animatedly. "Nope," she stated. "It was pretty much impossible to see your face with that mask. I don't think anyone got a good look at you anyway, I mean you were moving so fast."

Elsa let out a sigh of relief and glanced up at Kai for a moment. She immediately looked down in shame when she saw the disapproving and disappointed look on his face.

"I can't believe what I just saw," Anna continued to gush, unaware of the tension that was rising in the car. "My big sister, is literally a superhero. I always knew you would be, but it was incredible to actually see you be one. I mean, your ice destroyed that thing!"

Elsa tried to smile, but the shock of what had just happened and the shame of disappointing Kai was clogging her mind and making it impossible to think or feel remotely happy.

"Indeed," Kai muttered. His eyes drifted down to her bleeding arm and his frown deepened. "Come here Elsa."

She obediently moved closer towards him, not looking up from her hands. She didn't have the courage to meet his eyes. He reached down and touched her arm. Elsa bit her lip in order to muffle a cry, but Kai was able to tell she was in pain. The arm was already bruising.

"Elevate your arm," he ordered. Elsa did as she was told, even though her arm was becoming increasingly tired. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her arm, pressing on the wound. "Anna, I want you to hold this. Make sure you keep applying direct pressure to the wound."

Anna quickly jumped in the seat beside her sister and put her hands where Kai's had been. Elsa was relieved that her grip was much softer.

Kai didn't look at the sisters when he exited the back of the limo. "We will discuss this later."

With that he closed the door and then got into the driver's seat. Leaving the girls to look at each other nervously as they began to drive off.

Elsa leaned heavily against the seat, her entire body was exhausted and aching from being thrown against that wall. She thought of all those people crowding around her, cheering for her and applauding her bravery. It was strange, being a hero. Rewarding, but in a way surreal considering how she had blended into the background for so many years of her life.

Elsa's mind wandered to what Megamind had said.

So you're Insignias' new hero.

He had a habit of mispronouncing the city's name.

But did he really think she was going to be Insinius's defender? Could she actually be a hero? She shook her head at the thought. It was only a one time thing. She only did it to protect her sister and the rest of the people in the mall.

But what if those people were put in danger again? Would she really be able to just stand by when some person was in danger or the city was being attacked?

But her powers were unpredictable and difficult to control. They have hurt people before, and Elsa would never be able to go through something like that again.

These questions and second guessing was giving her a headache. She slouched her seat and frowned deeply as her thoughts continued to torment her.

Things had been so much easier when Metro Man was alive and she just kept her powers contained. Her mind drifted absently to another thing Megamind had said.

Heroes don't last long here.

She shivered to herself involuntarily.

~Roxanne~

Roxanne Richie shoved past the crowd with her camera man, Hal, in tow. People were lined up in front of the mall in droves, all of them chatting excitedly amongst each other. The reporter felt giddiness bubbling up at the sight. Everyone's eyes were lit up with a new joy instead of the usual dull tiredness that had been haunting them for the past three months. There was a collective energy buzzing among the citizens and one couldn't help but get caught up in it.

"Did you get any good shots of her Hal?" Roxanne yelled, standing on her toes in order to look over the rows of people that stood between her and her million dollar story. The only thing that was left of the superhero had been a path of ice that lead out of the mall. She must have disappeared down that path.

"I got some good shots of her fighting the robot," her camera man panted in response. He was out of breath after rushing around the mall and trying to keep up with this new ice hero. "But a lot of it is blurry. I think I got a really good close up before she split though."

"Excellent," she grinned. "This is the mother load Hal. We've got a new superhero. A girl superhero to boot. And I thought today was going to be a slow day."

Pursing her lips in determination, Roxanne pushed her way passed the crowd. She trusted that Hal would keep up with her and stick close to her side.

"Get some good shots of the robot and then we can record a piece for the news tonight," she says as she finally makes it to the rubble. She recognized the robot's look and remembered it from a few years back. It was called the Demolisher or the Destroyer or something pretentious like that.

Roxanne turned to Hal once they were in the middle of the rubble. "Alright Hal, get ready," she said. "I want to start recording here."

"Kay," he nodded eagerly. "We're recording in five, four, three..."

He motioned the last two numbers, keeping silent and Roxanne took a deep breath before beginning.

"Good Evening Insinius," she said to the camera, a grin splitting her face. "And it is a wonderful evening. Today we lost an evil overlord and we gained a new hero."

She continued to recite the piece she had written a few seconds ago. She motioned to the wreckage around her.

"Megamind hasn't been challenged since the tragic loss of Metro Man, but today when he was attacking the North Insinius mall, a mysterious unnatural stepped in to save the day," Roxanne explained to the camera. "This new masked unnatural was clad all in white and it seemed she had the ability to manipulate ice and snow. With her power she managed to defeat a robot thrice her size and save the remaining citizens who were trapped inside the mall."

She had Hal widen the camera's focus so that the entire area was in the shot, including the ice path that the hero had been skating on and the people who had been gathering around the fallen robot.

"All these people behind me owe their lives to this mysterious new hero," Roxanne stated with a wide smile. "And her heroic appearance has everyone wondering who is this mysterious defender of Insinius, and what will she face next?"

~Jack~

Jackson kicked open his apartment door and pushed himself in, along with the giant bundle of groceries that he could barely contain in his arms. He grumbled curses to himself when some of the oranges tumbled out of the bag and onto the dirty floor.

"Who's a son of a bitch, Jack?" Pippa asked curiously, popping her head out of her room.

"Hey," he yelled at the thirteen year old. "Don't repeat stuff like that!"

"You said it first," Pippa argued. "Why are you aloud to swear?"

"Because I'm old enough to make the informed decision to swear when the occasion calls for it," he replied with a smirk, to which his baby sister rolled her eyes.

"You would never guess what happened today!" She exclaimed happily, picking up the oranges from the floor and putting them on the small wooden kitchen table. Jackson dumped the bags on the counter with a heavy sigh.

"Where's mom?" he asked, looking around the apartment. In the tiny space, he couldn't find any trace of his mother anywhere.

"She had to take another shift at work," she answered, waving her hand dismissively. "Now, you have to hear this-"

"What?" Jack yelled. "How did you get home from the rehearsal?"

Pippa sighed in exasperation. "I walked," she groaned, knowing that an onslaught of scolding was going to come. "But listen to this-"

"Alone?" He shouted, his eyes alight with concern. "Jesus Pip, you should have called me. I would've come to take you home."

"I'm thirteen," she argued. "I can walk home by myself."

"Not in this city," Jackson countered with a glare. "With Megamind still out there, he could attack any place at any time. Especially with no invulnerable hero to stop him."

At that point, Pippa's angry defensive expression melted into a look of excitement. Jackson looked at her in confusion as she began bouncing on her toes.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Pippa giggled, her cheerful demeanour was completely returned. She grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him over to the couch in front of the old TV. She shoved him down on the sofa and ran up to turn on the TV. When the screen came up fuzzy and the sound muffled with static, she slammed the side of the TV until it went clear. The sound was still fuzzy and the picture flickered, but it was usually the best quality they could get.

To Jackson's surprise, Pippa flipped the channel to the news station. She was usually bored with the news and would never watch it on her own. He gave her an odd look but she just grinned back at him and rose the volume before plopping down on the couch beside him.

"Good evening Insinius," the female reporter beamed at them through the screen. "And it is a wonderful evening. Today we lost an evil overlord and we gained a new hero."

Jackson did a double take in front of the TV, he turned to look at his sister completely gobsmacked. She only smirked back up at him.

The station put on a video in poor quality that showed a white blur gliding around a thirty foot robot and throwing dagger-like projectiles at its limbs and torso. Within the glass dome at the top of the robot, which served as its head, Jackson could just make out a blue skinned figure that was clad in black leather. The robot was firing its gun at the white figure and then hit them so hard that they flew across the room. Jackson and Pippa both winced when they heard the sickening crack that echoed when the person hit the wall.

But within seconds of the white clad unnatural hitting the wall, the robot toppled to the ground with a crash that echoed through the TV speaker.

The video changed to a picture of the white figure standing tall in the rubble. Jackson now could see that it was a girl with a long, platinum blonde braid. And from what he could see, she hadn't been throwing daggers, but ice. Recognition hit him instantly.

His back went stiff as the reporter described how this girl skated her way into the mall and used her strange ice powers to take down the robot. The girl's heroics (that weren't all too spectacular in Jack's opinion) were explained in detail while the video was played, replayed, and then played in slow motion.

He watched her closely, with cold, calculating eyes, making absolutely sure that his assumption was right. And he was almost positive. No, he was completely positive that this new hero was Elsa Arendelle.

Pippa bounced excitedly in her seat as the news station cut to interviews that featured people who were present at the event.

"We thought we were going to be killed when Megamind started tearing apart the stores," an elderly man said into the microphone. "All of us were too terrified to go outside and there was no one wandering in the hallways. So when I saw a person out there, skating by the window, I knew something was going on."

"It was amazing," a young woman with big brown eyes gushed. "This girl skated by all in white. I thought it was Metro Man at first because she moved so fast that I couldn't see her. She stopped and we all poked our heads out to watch her. She started throwing these like ice knives at the robot. The ice tore it apart and took the robot down all on her own."

The picture switched back to the news anchors who continued to talk about the girl.

Jackson crossed his arms and couldn't help but glare at the screen. These people were just desperate. An unnatural in a mask gets her ass kicked by a giant robot and on sheer luck manages to knock it down, and they treat her like she's some sort of supreme goddess. They were probably thinking she was going to be the next Metro Man and they were going to build her up to be this great big defender of the city. Jack had no doubts about this. And he knew that when she got offed, things in Insinius would get even worse.

He could only shrug at that thought. It would only make things easier for him.

Pippa sighed loudly and sank into the couch with a wide grin. Her sparkling brown eyes were glued to the TV and filled to the brim with awe and wonder. Jack looked down at his sister's expression and raised a critical eyebrow.

"You have a new girl crush?" Jack asked with a slight smirk. He knew Pippa had always been a fan of superheroes, of the few that were left in the world. It wouldn't surprise him if she would fangirl over Elsa's new superhero identity.

"Yes!" Pippa exclaimed excitedly, grinning at him like a Cheshire Cat. He let out a delighted laugh at her response. "She like made ice knives with her hands and completely shredded that robot to pieces. Did you see her dodging all those punches and just taking him out? She was amazing!"

"You're too easily impressed," Jack chuckled, ruffling her brown locks. "I don't see this one lasting long."

Pippa frowned and turned to him with an irritated look. "What makes you say that?"

"Come on," Jack drawled. "She was flung around like she was a doll. Metro Man was pretty much invulnerable, and he still got taken out. I doubt this girl is even going to come back after that. It looked like a nasty crash."

Jackson wouldn't put it past Elsa to keep stupidly risking her life because of her pride and determination. But he also wouldn't be surprised if she was smart enough to realize she was in way over her head. Those rich folks were all about self preservation.

"Alright Ye of Little Faith," Pippa snorted. "I think she's awesome and I bet she's going to be the greatest hero this place has ever seen. How cool would it be if we had a girl superhero defending the city? That's never happened before."

Jack rolled his eyes and sighed deeply. "Don't come crying to me when she disappears or gets iced," he stated, leaning back into the cushions with a relaxed grin. "No pun intended."

"Haw, haw," Pippa mocked as she pushed his shoulder. "Don't be such a Debbie Downer Jack. I think she's pretty powerful from what I saw. And besides, this was only her first try at the whole hero thing."

Jackson didn't reply as he tried to wrap his mind around everything that was going on. So Elsa Arendelle was dressing up like a superhero and had just defeated Megamind. Great, good for her.

Jack was most likely one of the few people who knew it was her. Just based on the fact that he was one of the few that knew about her ice powers. He wasn't sure about her being an unnatural before, but he definitely was now. So he had at least info on her, which was good.

But if she continued to skate around the city playing hero, she might run into Jack Frost. And that would definitely be a problem.

Jackson could only hope that she gave up on this charade. He didn't want her to get killed for sheer stupidity and he definitely didn't want her to catch him. He would just have to steer clear of her until she gave up. After that, things should smooth over.

~Elsa~

Elsa breathed in and out deeply as the dining room tablecloth beneath her fingers became coated with a thick layer of ice. She did her best to stay completely still as Kai finished the remaining stitches on her arm. She couldn't help but wince at the pain in her arm. Anna sat on the chair beside her, squeezing her free hand and offering a comforting smile. The warmth of her hands offered a familiar consolation. Even while being grasped by Elsa's cold fingers, Anna's hands were always warm.

When Kai finished the last stitch, he let out a deep sigh of relief. Elsa released her hold on the table cloth and leaned her head on Anna's shoulder. She shrunk away as Kai's eyes landed on her and his frown deepened.

"What were you thinking Elsa?" He scolded, his intense glare fixed on her. "You could have gotten discovered! Or worse, killed!"

Elsa didn't have the resolve to meet his eyes and immediately casted her gaze to the floor. She had to admire Kai for his self control. He managed to keep from flipping at her until he patched her up.

"You do realize how deeply you jeopardized your safety," he continued to rant. "Not only your safety but the safety of your family as well. If anyone found out who you were, not only would you be in danger, but so would Anna and your friends."

"Nobody knew who I was," Elsa said, looking at him defensively. "And besides, I wasn't hurt."

"Because you were lucky!" Kai growled, but instead of shying away, Elsa met his stare head on. "One misstep and you could've gotten killed, or you might've hurt someone by accident. What you did was reckless and impulsive."

"What did you expect me to do?" Elsa yelled, standing from her chair. She could feel frost crawling up her arms. "Leave Anna in there? Leave all those people to get killed by Megamind? I'm not going to stand by anymore and watch as people get hurt. Not while I can help them."

"Do you think you're going to continue doing things like this?" Kai accused. "You could be killed, Elsa. I won't allow you to risk your life like this."

"You're not going to keep me locked up," Elsa sneered, rebellion flaring in her chest. "I can use my powers to help people if I want to. You can't expect me to keep silent in the background as things like this happen!"

Kai groaned as he stood from his chair and stared down at Elsa with sharp eyes. Elsa felt her resolve waver under his gaze, but she refused to look away.

"You're right," he admitted. "I won't be able to stop you if you try doing this again. But you need to learn about the cost of your actions. And you need to think about the damage you're powers can do. And already have done."

Elsa flinched at the last sentence like he had struck her. With a twinge of regret in his hardened features, Kai turned away from her and stalked out of the dinning room.

Elsa collapsed back into her chair and sank low into the seat. Her legs were still sore and tired from what had happened earlier. Emotions and memories clouded her mind, making it impossible for her to think clearly.

Anna put a hand on her shoulder and tried to cheer her up with an uplifting smile. Elsa didn't even look at her.

"I think what you did was amazing, Elsa," Anna whispered, leaning her forehead on Elsa's shoulder. "You were so brave and heroic. It might not have been the smartest thing to do, but it was the right thing to do."

Elsa looked down at her shoes and hugged herself tightly. "But Kai was right," she replied weakly. "My powers are dangerous. And even if I'm trying to help people, I might end up hurting them."

"You don't know that," Anna tried reassuring her. "This world needs people like you. And I believe you can help people."

Elsa could only sigh in defeat. "I just don't know, Anna," she breathed. "If I hurt someone, I never would be able to forgive myself. It's not like it hasn't happened before."

Anna froze at this and any response she had died in her throat. She wished desperately that she had something comforting to say, but what could she possibly say to that? Elsa would never stop blaming herself. Even if Anna did all in her power to convince her that it wasn't her fault.

"And besides," Elsa continued. "If I continued with whatever that temporary insanity was, I could endanger you and Kai and all my friends. I could never risk your life like that."

Anna frowned at her big sister. "You can't mean that," she whispered. "You saved people, Elsa. You saved the whole city"

"I saved you," she countered with a pointed look. "I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you and I meant it."

"But-"

"Let's face it, Anna," she interrupted her sister before she could try to encourage her more. "I'm not a hero. I'd never be able to handle things like this daily. I mean, look how bad I got it on my first day."

Anna shrugged with a hesitant grin. "Everybody sucks on their first day."

Elsa tried to smile back. "Megamind is behind bars again," she said softly. "With him out of the picture, things in the city should get better. Things will be fine without a superhero."

Elsa turned away and climbed up the stairs to her bedroom, wincing each time she stepped down on her bruised leg. She tried to convince herself that she was right. She wouldn't make a good hero, and she just wasn't needed. The cops were free to get a handle on the crime growth now that Megamind wasn't ruling over them. Insinius didn't really need a white crusader to save them. It's not like there were other villains that were worse than Megamind.

~Unknown~

The TV broadcast was paused on the picture of the new hero, dressed all in white, complete with a white flowing cape. He wanted to roll his eyes at how cliche the whole thing was. The brightness of the screen glowed within the dimly lit, lavished room.

He stared at the picture on the screen for a long time. He slumped in his chair as the annoyance and frustration boiled up within him. Why did this girl have to show up? He had just gotten rid of Metro Man, and was still making sure he stayed gone. Now a new hero was deciding to rise up. He should never have expected things to last. With the amount of unknown unnaturals lurking within the city, one was bound to take a stand eventually. His plans were going smoothly, but this definitely threw at rut in everything. He slammed his hands down on his desk and growled to himself in anger.

Big damn heroes. And their damn heroic duties.

He quickly calmed his rage and relaxed his muscles. He could work around this. He was nothing if not adaptable.


	6. Light Up The Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The people that are trying to make the world worse never take a day off , why should I. Light up the darkness"
> 
> Bob Marley

**~Elsa~**

Elsa had expected everything about the whole hero thing to blow over within a week, but as the days rolled by the whole city was still busily discussing the new hero who took out Megamind. Elsa wanted to avoid the discussion all together, but that was practically impossible. In fact it would probably make her look even more suspicious if she didn't join in the conversation. But eventually it gets pretty tiring when the only thing people can talk about is...you.

Elsa leaned her cheek heavily on her palm and tried to focus on her biology notes, but it was nearly impossible due to the chatter that was happening across from her.

"You actually think she carries around a can of liquid nitrogen to spray at criminals," Merida snorted. She was getting a few looks from the other people that were scattered about the library. But she didn't seem to notice or care. "That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard."

"I never said it was liquid nitrogen," Hiccup huffed. "I just said it was a possibility. There are other chemicals she could be using."

"Or maybe that's just her power," Merida said, rolling her eyes. "Unnatural’s tend to have powers like that. Why do you always have to over think these things? Not everything needs a concrete explanation."

Hiccup gave her a bewildered look. "Of course it does!" he practically yelled. Elsa shot him a glare, as did several other people in the library. He smiled sheepishly and blushed furiously. He started speaking in a hushed whisper. "I like knowing how things actually work."

"Some things are better left to the imagination," Elsa stated with a shrug. "You can throw around theories all you want, but in the end it's pretty unlikely that you'll find the truth."

"No need to be a buzz kill Elsa," Hiccup frowned. "Anyway, unlike some people, I'm not constantly relying on 'it's just their power to explain things away."

"Whatever," Merida said with an eye roll. She turned to Elsa with a frown. "Come on Elsa," she groaned. "Christmas break just started and your using it as a study period."

Elsa's lips twitched into a smile. "Exams are coming up Mer," she shrugged. "Don't you want to be prepared beforehand instead of studying the morning of the test?"

"I study the night before the test too," Merida argued. "I just need a refresher after my four hours of sleep."

The two girls stared at each other for a moment before bursting into fits of laughter. Hiccup glanced between the two of them and sighed to himself. "Figures, the only friends I could land were both insane," he groaned.

Merida giggled, picking up Elsa's textbook and standing from her seat. "Let's go see a movie or something, I think we've bothered these poor, unfortunate souls for long enough."

"Sorry people!" she yelled into the library. Everyone in the building glared at her and she was shushed by twelve different people

Well, Elsa didn't think there was any point in staying after that. Might as well leave before getting kicked out.

Merida only grinned as Elsa and Hiccup hid their faces in embarrassment. They shuffled awkwardly to the door and blushed under the irritated glares that were burning into their back. They all ducked out of the library and turned to walk down the sidewalk, towards the discount movie theater. There used to be one in the mall, but after the disaster that happened there with Megamind, the whole thing was under repairs.

Elsa glanced around the streets hesitantly. Things were definitely better than they had been before she stood up to Megamind. Crime was as good as was to be expected. The city had only been slightly close to peaceful when Metro Man was still alive. She knew there was more immorality, sin, and crime working within the shadows and corners. It was festering in the dark and causing what was left of the city to slowly erode away. Elsa had a sinking feeling that the world was caving in around her as something poisonous was crawling around and tearing things apart. Elsa felt that she was the only one who could be Atlas and hold up the sky, yet she didn't out of a deep selfishness.

She couldn't shake the feeling away. The feeling that she was making a horrible mistake by just forgetting her brief experience as a saviour and refusing to do anything again. The feeling that things would only get worse if she continued to stand by. The feeling that insistently gnawed at the back of her mind.

That feeling was always fighting with her fear and rationality. She couldn't control her powers, she barely knew how to use them. How was she supposed to use them to fight crime, especially without hurting anyone? Not only that, but how was she supposed to even stay alive? She was all for helping people, but she wanted to live past her graduation. The defender before her was virtually indestructible, and yet he was still killed. She had a much bigger risk of getting offed.

The conflicting emotions were driving her insane, and the fact that people were still obsessively talking about her didn't help. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't escape it or let it blow over. It was always on her mind and on the tongue of everyone around her.

As Merida and Hiccup walked in front of her, arguing about what movie they should see, Elsa walked slowly behind them. Her steps were laboured and heavy, her heals scuffing against the concrete. Her mind was weighed down agonizingly by her thoughts. Her inner turmoil tortured her like it had been for weeks.

**~Jack~**

Jackson closed his door with a sigh and wandered over to look out the window. The blaring of car horns and police sirens were constant when you lived a block down from the police station. Even with the neon lights and signs that glowed and flickered, the city was still unbelievably dark. Probably because you couldn't see the stars. Even the glow of the moon was dulled in this city. But the darkness only helped him. Not only that, but Elsa hadn't showed her face as the white snow heroine in weeks. As he predicted, she most likely just gave up. Or decided that since Megamind was in jail, she had no more work to do. Whatever the reason, it was good news to Jackson.

Christmas vacation was freeing up his schedule considerably. He had more time to himself, since his mom was still working and Christmas was the busiest season for her. So she wouldn't figure out what her son was doing in his free time. Well, she assumed she knew. He told his mom he had a decent paying job at an antique store. He told her that the owner paid him extremely well for such a job and that was where she assumed all the money was coming from.

Pippa was a bit of a pain to sneak past. Jackson loved the kid to death, but she was a nosy little nugget. He had a feeling she was on to him about not actually having a job. She kept asking if he was gambling or doing some illegal underground drug deals. She would ask this playfully of course and he would always joke back with her, but Jackson was worried that her playful guesses would become real suspicions. If she did figure out the truth, Jackson wasn't sure if he could face her disappointment

She was in the living room now, reading a book while listening to the radio. She always blared the music so loudly that the ground shook, so Jackson was certain she wouldn't even notice him leave.

He slowly turned away from the window and searched behind the back of his rickety dresser. Hidden between the gap of the dresser and the wall was a long wooden shepherd's staff. Jackson pulled it out and held it in front of his face. He examined the patterns of frost and ice that were imprinted into the wood. He ran his fingers along the staff, feeling the familiar cool, rough texture.

Jackson's grip tightened around the staff and he closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in concentration. His breaths slowly became few and far in between, until he let out one final exhale and he just stopped breathing all together. His heartbeat slowed and slowed until he could no longer feel it in his chest. He felt his skin shift and his flesh curdle. Jackson felt as if he was moving through molasses as his spirit phased out of his body. He was used to this transformation after the millions of times he tried it. The first time was a bit inelegant, but luckily he had gotten a hang of it.

The spirit started to take a human form as soon as it left its host. Its pale, icy flesh slowly formed and solidified. A mop silvery hair fell in wisps upon its head. The form was wrapped in dark blue cloth made of frost and ice. A navy cloak was clasped around its shoulders. Its hands and feet were left bare. The face of Jackson Overland was formed at the head. Everything was identical to the features of Jackson, everything but the silver hair, pale complexion, and pale blue irises. As soon as the spirit's eyes snapped open, Jackson's body toppled to the floor. He was completely unconscious and only a pile of flesh now that his soul was separated.

Jack Frost looked down at his lifeless body. Well, he wouldn't say lifeless. He was still breathing and his heart was now beating at a steady rate. But now that his spirit, soul, and essence was gone, his body was pretty much a vegetable.

That was how it has always worked, ever since he woke up from that coma. 

He had assumed that Jack Frost was just a dream. A strange illusion that came to him during his weeks of unconsciousness. But that night, when he discovered the frost covered staff beneath his hospital bed, he realized just how wrong he was. He didn't think this kind of thing was possible. Things like ghosts and ice powers just didn't exist. Yet the proof was right there, in front of his eyes.

At first he thought it was just a strange coincidence and the staff was just there by mistake. But that was just him trying to grasp for straws. In reality he was shocked and panicking, wondering what all of this could mean for him. And for a brief moment, he found that he couldn't breathe because he was so shocked. His lungs begged for oxygen but he was so terrified that he forgot how to breath in. His skin became cold and clammy as his rapid heartbeat slowed until it just stopped. In that brief moment, he felt his skin stretch painfully and his flesh felt like it was being ripped to shreds. He felt like his head had exploded as he was jolted forward violently. He flew across room and hit the wall with a painful smack. Afterwards he heard a loud thump from in front of him. Beside his hospital bed, he saw...himself falling to the floor in a limp heap of limbs and flesh.

That sight was enough drive him into temporary insanity. He jumped to his feet and backed against the wall, staff still clenched tightly in his hands, and slid as far as he could from his clone body. He shook violently as he gazed at the body in front of him. He tried to convince himself that this was just the medication. But it didn't go away, no matter how much he shook his head and rubbed his eyes. As he side stepped to the farthest corner of the room, he caught his reflection in the window. Jack did a double take at the sight of himself. It was him, dressed in the hospital gown. But his hair was silver instead of chestnut. His eyes were blue instead of brown. And his skin was as pale as the room. As he cautiously approached the window, staring into his reflection, he tried to tell himself that it was just a trick of the light, but it wasn't. He put his hand against the glass and frost erupted from his fingers and crawled across the glass. He pulled away sharply like he had been burned. He could only stare at himself. A version of himself that was so pale, he was practically a ghost.

He heard a whisper in the darkness that surrounded him. It didn't come from any place near him, or anyplace he could pin point. He didn't recognize the voice.

Jack Frost. That was what it whispered to him. He still didn't know where the whisper came from, but he kept the name anyway. But when he heard it, he just knew that this was all real. That it wasn't an illusion or a hallucination. He understood with sudden clarity that seemingly came from nowhere that he wasn't really himself anymore. He understood that he was separated from his body, like he had been when he had been pulled from that lake. He wandered over to his unconscious body in a stunned daze. He looked over the body with a strange detachment. There was a certain horror in looking down at a dead-ish version of himself. He knelt down beside the body, and placed his hands on the chest. It was rising and falling with steady breaths and he could feel a pulse, so he knew he wasn't some kind of ghost. At first he wasn't sure what to do next. How was he supposed to return to his body? But then he felt a pull at his chest, and he started getting sucked down towards the floor, like he was falling into a black hole. He let himself get pulled forward and he hit the floor with a smack. And he woke up as Jackson Overland, curled up on the cold tile of the hospital floor.

To this day, he didn't understand how it was possible, or why it happened, but he didn't waste the gift in order to contemplate its purpose. He always believed that a person should use their talents to get ahead in life. And Jack Frost certainly had a lot of talents.

Jack lifted the body up onto the bed and laid him down. He made sure not to stay connected for too long. Having too much physical contact with his body caused him to get sucked back in. He learned that trick pretty fast.

He pulled up the hood of his cloak over his head, concealing his face in shadow. Standing up straight, he treaded softly to the window and opened it. The blaring of car horns and sirens blasted through the open window. Carefully, Jack slipped out of the window with the staff clutched in his hand. He closed it partway so there was only a crack. It was stressful as hell seeing as the last time he closed the window he was locked outside. He ended up having to break into his neighbour's apartment. Jack wasn't willing to relive that embarrassment.

Jack casted one last look to his apartment, smiling to himself. He climbed up onto the railing of his fire escape and then leaped off the rail. He plunged down the 8 story drop, head first, grinning as the wind hit his face and raced through his hair. The chill of the night air would have stung his skin if he was in his body, but as Jack Frost, he never really felt the cold.

As he dived down and got closer to the streets and traffic below, he gripped the staff with both hands and held it between him and the road. Just when he was ten feet from the ground, a gust of wind came from below him and swooped him up into the air. Thrilled laughter bubbled up from Jack's lips as he flew across the sky. This particular trick had taken him a day to master. He lost count of the amount of times he crashed into buildings

The adrenaline raced through his frozen veins as he flew over the city. Jack set his eyes on an old sandstone building in the centre of the city, adorned with statues and gargoyles. He swooped down onto the roof, his bare feet padding quietly on the stone. There was a large window, right beside him. He tapped the end of his staff against the glass, freezing it and causing cracks to spread across the window. With a second tap, the glass shattered and the alarm system blared.

Jack smiled to himself and jumped through the now open window. He had work to do and he had to do it fast.

**~Elsa~**

Hiccup sighed dramatically as the three teenagers walked out of the movie theater. The starless dark sky hung above them, coating the city in shadow. The street lamp's dim light didn't seem to help much in the darkness as they flickered over the streets. The blaring of car horns and rumbling engines filled the air and one could practically choke on the fumes that clogged every corner of space.

"I just think it's a little ridiculous," Merida shrugged carelessly. "They keep trying to make these fairy tales dark and edgy, when they were pretty dark to begin with. In the original Little Mermaid, she died!"

"Yeah, everyone knows that, Mer," Elsa stated. "They just need to stretch stuff out in order to make it a two hour movie."

"But lots of these stories have big epic plots that don't need to be stretched out," Hiccup argued in favour of Merida. "They're better ways of making them more epic than slapping a suit of armour on Snow White and then ripping off Lord of the Rings."

"Should have just went to see the Avengers," Elsa muttered to herself.

"Like the Snow Queen. That story had tons of stuff in it," Merida continued, not hearing what Elsa said.

"The what?" Elsa asked curiously. She had never been that big into fairytales. She didn't really know many of the more obscure ones.

"The Snow Queen," Merida repeated. "You know the queen who can control well...winter."

"What was it about?" Elsa wondered, a feeling of awe bubbling up inside her. She couldn't help but be interested in a fairytale character who possessed the same powers as her.

"Well a Queen with ice powers and a broken mirror," Merida mumbled, her bright blue eyes glancing around as she tried to recall the story. "Two kids and some trolls. And there was something about getting glass in your eye to make you sad or whatever."

"Sounds epic," Elsa snarked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"It was cool when I was five," Merida huffed to herself, causing Elsa to giggle into her hand.

"I'll see you guys later," she called out to them as she turned to walk down a dark alley.

The long series of alleys created a shortcut to her condo building. It would be considered a bit risky for a young girl to wander through the dark corners of Insinius at night, but not every young girl could shoot ice from her hands.

Elsa hummed lightly to herself as she weaved through the maze of buildings and wired fences. She had memorized her way through these alleys after using them to get home for the past two years, so she didn't really need to pay too much attention as she continued on. She tilted her head up to look at the sky. The glow of the moon was the only light that shined down on her face. It was full, big, and bright in the black sky

For a split second, as Elsa stared up at the pool of silver, she could have sworn she saw something fly over her head. Something too large to be a bird, and shaped like...a person. It went by in a flash, but Elsa had seen it in the brief moment when it had been silhouetted by the moonlight. It had the shape of a human from what she could tell. She stopped in her tracks and tried to follow the shape with her eyes, but it disappeared over the tops of the buildings before she could get a good look at it.

Elsa wasn't sure what compelled her to keep her eyes on it, but she wandered off her regular path and turned a corner the way the thing had flown by.

She kept looking at the sky, searching for any trace of the specter that had flown over her head. Because of her distraction, she wasn't really paying attention to where she was going. Elsa began running in order to catch up with the mysterious shape or possible bird. She didn't see the wall in front of her until she collided with the brick building.

She fell to the ground with a smack and let out a pained moan. Her head ached and she could taste the bitterness of copper in the back of her mouth. She wiped away the trail of blood that dripped down from her nose. Elsa brushed the dirt off her skirt when she got up from the concrete. She could feel her head throbbing and she groaned in pain. She sniffed in order to stop the flow of blood.

Elsa chided herself mentally for being so ridiculous. The thing was probably just a trick of the light. And now she was lost in the alleyway maze because she was too curious for her own good.

Elsa was about to turn around and retrace her steps to get back on the right track, when she heard a bang from the far corner of the alley. The sudden sound and the loud clattering of garbage bins caused Elsa to jump in surprise. The sounds would have usually been written off as just the antics of some careless stray cats, but the sound of crass yelling and vicious laughter destroyed that argument.

Elsa cautiously tiptoed up the wall until she could just peek around the corner. Her big blue eyes widened in shock and alarm at the sight that they beheld.

A group tall imposing men facing away from her and surrounding a man lying on the gravel, backed up against a brick wall that created a dead end. The man lying down was dressed in raggedy clothing, but the other ones were dressed professionally. One of them was in a designer suit. Definitely not like typical street thugs.

Elsa ducked her head behind the corner again but kept listening.

"It's nothing personal Rider," a husky male voice stated. The voice sounded raspy like his lungs had been clogged with tar from decades of smoking. Elsa could smell the distinct stench of tobacco filtering through the air, so she could only guess that one of them was smoking as they ganged up on this man, Rider.

"You know how stingy the boss is," the voice continued. "And he wasn't too happy about some of the missing profits."

"Look I know that I broke a few rules more than once," a second voice cut in. This one sounded younger and panicked. "But the boss is practically drowning in jewels and riches. What is a few missing rocks to an emperor?"

Elsa heard someone give a deep sigh.

"I've always liked you Flynn," the first man stated. "You know that don't you? Sure you have an ego problem and a big mouth, but I have a certain respect for a man with a sense of humour. Especially one with your profession."

"So you'll let me go," Rider said hopefully. "For old times sake. And because you are a generous and wonderful human being."

Another deep sigh.

"Sorry Rider," the first man apologized. "It's part of my job. And the boss gave me specific instructions to make an example out of you. No hard feelings and all that."

Elsa took the chance of looking around the corner again. She saw some of the men holding long iron pipes and baseball bats. She could have sworn she saw one guy with batons. Who the hell carried batons?

"Alright boys," the leader called out, stepping back. Elsa now saw that he was the man in the business suit and smoking a cigar. "Start with the legs and work your way up."

Rider backed against the wall as the group of thugs stalked towards him, holding their weapons up threateningly.

Elsa's heart was pounding in her chest. Her arms were frozen at her sides. And she could only watch in stunned silence as one of the bulky redheaded men brought down the metal pole on Rider's leg. There was a sickening snap and a blood curdling scream.

That jolted Elsa out of her stupor and without even realizing what she was doing, she held out her hand and shot a wave of ice at the men. Elsa immediately ducked back behind wall again and winced at the screams and furious yelling that followed. Without a moment of hesitation, she enveloped herself in a sleek sheet of ice and recreated her costume and mask. She quickly tied her hair back into a ponytail and brushed her bangs up on top of her head.

Taking a deep breath to gather her courage, Elsa stepped out from behind the wall, cape flowing dramatically behind her. She felt the need to say something cheesy and heroic, like 'freeze villains'. But she shot that idea down in a heartbeat.

"You know, I don't think you guys know how cliché you all look," she snarked as she stepped out, watching with mild satisfaction as their eyes widened in shock. "I feel like I just stepped into a mobster movie."

All of them stared at her in stunned silence, luckily with their attention diverted from the injured man. He was staring at her too, mouth agape. Elsa noticed that her ice had hit one of the lackeys and had encased his foot in a block of solid ice. She winced slightly at that.

"Sorry about that," she apologized mockingly. "It will thaw out eventually...I think."

One of the thugs broke the silence. "You're that unnatural from the news," he rumbled. "She's the girl that took out Megamind."

"The one and only," Elsa smirked, holding her hands out. "So what are you boys doing playing outside so late?"

"The new hero," the leader stated approaching her with an eerie calm, a cigar hung from the side of his mouth. "This isn't any of your concern."

Elsa narrowed her eyes and gave them a deadpan stare.

"I disagree," she answered nonchalantly. "I find its actually humanly decent to stop a group of jackasses from beating a man to death with baseball bats."

To Elsa's surprise, the man in the suit let out a series of hysteric laughs.

"You must have a backwards set of morals if you think this scum is worth saving," he chuckled in derision.

Elsa's icy blue eyes narrowed on the man, anger flaring in her. "I think that's more my decision than it is yours," she sneered. "Now I'm going to give you losers a choice. You can let the guy go, split with your flunkies, and never bother me again. Or-"

Before she could continue, one of the lackeys pulled out a gun and fired at her. Luckily, she saw him pull out the gun and had enough time to duck out of the way. The bullet flew past her head, as she narrowly dodged out of the way. She pursed her lips in annoyances.

"Or we could do it the hard way."

She held out her hands and blasted the men with waves of ice. She aimed at the man holding the gun, and fired a large burst of ice at the man. She grimaced when she froze his legs completely, keeping him trapped in place. He fired his gun again, and Elsa held up her hands, causing a wall of ice to shoot up from the ground, and to her surprise, stopping the bullet in its tracks.

"Cool," she breathed, staring in awe at the bullet encased in ice. She smiled slightly and turned back to the men with a hint of smugness. 

She fired ice at the gang again, first sticking a block of ice around the hand and gun of the man that shot her. He cried out when his hand dropped from the heaviness. Elsa fired more walls and spikes of ice, causing them to stumble back. She didn't notice the man in the suit quietly exit the alley, into the large building to the left. The rest continued to try and attack her with their bats and batons. 'Seriously, batons?' She thought as she kept firing ice at them to keep them at bay. She created a large wall of ice, pushing the men away from her. They tried to push back, but she summoned all her strength to push them against the buildings wall. She sealed the sides between the building and the wall with more ice. When she was sure that they were trapped in her ice, she ran to the man on the ground, who was still just staring at her in shock, clutching his injured leg. She held out her hand to the man.

"This won't hold them," she stated, her voice breathy. She glanced back at the thugs, beating their fists and weapons against the wall, creating cracks in the smooth surface. "Come on."

He numbly reached out to take her hand, and she pulled him to his feet. He winced at the pain in his leg. Elsa gave him an apologetic look before pulling him out the alley. She ran as fast as she could, weaving through the maze with the man in tow. When she reached the street, she stopped to lean him against the wall. People who walked by down the crowded sidewalks stopped to stare at her. Soon she had quite a gathering.

Elsa knelt down beside the man, gazing at him with concern. Now that she could really see him properly without all the shadows, she noticed that he was actually pretty handsome. She blushed slightly under his gaze as he continued to stare at her with his big brown eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Sure, sweetheart," he groaned as he held his leg. "Not the first time someone's broken my leg, and it probably won't be the last."

Elsa smiled before turning to the crowd.

"Hey," she yelled out to one of the bystanders that were walking by the alleys entrance. The woman she yelled to was frozen in place and gawked at her. "Call 911. This guy needs help."

The woman nodded slowly before pulling out her phone.

"Who are you?" a young boy asked from the front of the cluster that continued to form around her.

Elsa looked at them all, her gaze shifting between all their faces. She racked her mind for names. She hadn't really given it much thought. Giving herself a name would mean that this was more than just a one time thing. It would mean that this was real, and that she couldn't turn back. But did she really want to turn away when there was things like this happening all over the place? Could she just keep ignoring things and waiting in the sidelines, after all of this has happened./

Elsa stood tall

"Snow Queen," she blurted out. "I'm the Snow Queen."

Before she had time to contemplate what she just said, the crowd erupted in an applause. She could only stand there in shock as the audience roared with admiration around her.

As people started to swarm close to her and snapped pictures with their phones, Elsa's heart swelled with panic. She started backing away from the crowd as she felt ice shards prickle along her palms and arms. She couldn't risk any of them recognizing her. Her powers getting out of control with them around.

Without wasting an extra second, she turned back towards the alley, creating a path of ice with her hands. She skated away from the crowd and down the alley maze, weaving away until the cheers became distant.

Soon she couldn't hear them anymore. She let out a sigh of relief and leaned heavily against the building. Elsa waved her hand and her costume melted away to reveal her normal clothes. Her eyes trailed up to look at the moon. It was still shining, big and bright above her. So there it was. Her big choice to be the Snow Queen. God, that was the best she could do for a title? She supposed there were worse names to go by. Could she really do this? She would be going against Kai and all rational thought. Risk life and limb day after day in a skintight costume without telling anyone who she really is. Keep secrets from everyone, her friends. But she would use her powers to actually help people instead of bottling them up. Help people instead of doing nothing.

She didn't want to hurt anyone. But she wasn't about to let people get hurt. This world needed a hero, and whether she liked it or not, she was a pretty good candidate.

Elsa clenched her fists and glared up at the moon. She held her hand up to the moon and released a blast of snowflakes that spiraled through the air. They twinkled in the moonlight like stars in a black sky.

A smile twitched at her lips, and for the first time in forever, she felt that nothing was in her way.

Her moment of clarity and joy was cut off by the blaring of police sirens. Something passed over her head and was gone as quickly as lightning, as if it was never there. The same shape she had seen before. Her eyes tried to follow its path, but it disappeared before she could tell which way it was going. But Elsa could have sworn she saw a trail of snowflakes, separate from her own, following the shape into the night.

**~Unknown~**

He was busy like usual, tinkering away in his lab, watching as his team of scientists injected the new serum into the lab rats. The last few had died, but hopefully with the modifications that he made, he should get the desired result.

That's when he got a call from one of his men.

"I told you not to call me when I'm working," he grumbled irritably.

"Sorry sir," the raspy voice apologized, his voice sounded panicked. "But I thought you would want to know that Rider escaped."

"Escaped?" He repeated, his voice sharp like razors. "How could he have escaped? You had five good men with you."

"Yeah," he replied, clearly frustrated. "But that new hero. The unnatural who took out Megamind. She showed up, locked my men up in and ice box, and made off with our favourite thief."

He sighed, and rubbed his temples with his fingers. "So you're saying that a 100 pound girl, locked up all your men, and then left with a very much alive Flynn Rider."

"That's about it," the man replied.

"Brilliant," he hissed. His mind churning through ideas with how to deal with him. "Flynn won't tell her anything. He's far to self serving to rat us out and then get arrested himself."

"So you don't want me to off her," the other man asked. He could hear the slightest disappointment in his tone.

"No," he muttered, still thinking to himself. "She's definitely going to be trouble. But I need to find out more about her before we move against her."

"What about Rider?"

"I still want him dead. Find him," he snapped. "Kill him on sight. Don't make a show of it, he's too dangerous to keep alive. Kill him or it's your head on the line"

He hung up the phone before the other man could reply. He looked down at the serum in his hand.

"I'll take care of the hero."


	7. One Who Deeply Cares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A hero is somebody who is selfless, who is generous in spirit, who just tries to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really deeply cares."
> 
> Debi Mazar

**~Elsa~**

_Wide green eyes sparkled with wonder as they watched the snowflakes erupt from her palms and flutter through the air. Elsa giggled delightedly and looked down at baby Anna. The baby had a large toothless grin alight her face as she watched the snowflakes her big sister had created. As Anna clapped her tiny hands and let out a high pitched giggle, the fire behind her crackled. Bright orange sparks flew from the fire and landed uncomfortably close to Anna. The baby didn't notice them and continued to coo as she watched the snowflakes fall to the fluffy rug. Elsa felt a flash of concern and dragged the baby forward. Anna cried in protest when she lost the warmth of the fire. She held the squirming baby against her and made sure she didn't crawl back to the fire place._

_The chubby baby was heavy on her lap, but Elsa was used to holding her up._

_"You're okay Anna," she soothed her fidgeting sister. "I got you."_

_The baby only gurgled at her in response before slumping limply against her side. Her head dropped with tiredness on Elsa's arm._

_A soft hand fell on Elsa's head ruffling her blonde hair. The toddler tilted her head up and a large smile split her face._

_"Daddy," she squealed. She held her free hand up to her farther's smiling face. She pointed to her sister. "Anna’s sleepy."_

_Her father smiled brightly, a smile so warm and full of life that she didn't think she could ever forget it, before kneeling down beside her. He dropped his head down to kiss the mess of orange curls on Anna's head. The baby lifted her head off her sisters arm and smiled happily at her father, babbling affectionately._

_Her father touched his nose to the baby's with a large grin. Anna returned that bright smile tenfold._

_"How is my little firecracker?" he beamed, nuzzling the giggling babies face. "Are you ready for a nap?"_

_The baby slumped down on the fur rug in response._

_Elsa giggled at her sister before turning her attention back to her father._

_"Daddy watch," she whispered. She flexed her palm and a flurry of snowflakes erupted from her hand._

_"Elsa," her father chided, pushing her hand back down to her side. "What did I say about using your powers inside?"_

_Elsa's smile fell and her eyes dropped to the ground._

_"To not to," she pouted._

_Her father smiled down at his daughter softly. He touched the platinum blonde locks and brushed a strand behind her tiny ear._

_"Do you know why you have these powers?"_

_Elsa looked up at him again with a wide smile, her previous sadness forgotten. "Because I'm a snowflake!"_

_"That's right," her father laughed joyously, "You are my little snowflake."_

_The laughter roused Anna from her nap on the floor. The baby realized she wasn't being held any more and so she crawled back to the warmth of the fireplace._

_"But Elsa," her father continued. "You have these powers for a reason. You may not know it, but people need a snowflake like you."_

_Elsa tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"_

_Her father only smiled, this one hiding so many secrets in the corner. There was a great weight to his smile that was absent from all his other smiles."I know it doesn't make sense right now," he stated. "But you'll understand, when you're ready."_

_Elsa frowned in confusion. Her father had said things like this before. He would speak to her in a low voice, his words were always full of such purpose that she knew what he was saying was important, even though she could barely understand him. And his eyes would become distant, taking on a glazed look as he stared at her like he might never see her again. There was such a drift between them in those moments because so many secrets and mysteries were poured between them._

_Elsa felt a sudden tiredness come over her when she saw how dark it was outside. All these thoughts made her drowsy. She yawned and lay down on her father's lap, sighing contently when he stroked her head. Elsa's eyes were cracked open just enough for her to see her little sister. Anna was curled up asleep on the fur rug, right next to the fire._

_"Anna," she mumbled. She tried to get up and crawl over to her little sister so she could pull her back. But her father held her there. Elsa was too tired to complain._

_"She'll be alright," he whispered soothingly. "But you know that she needs you Elsa. Right?"_

_Elsa's eyelids started to drop slowly. The vision of her sister, sleeping across from her got blurry. She nodded heavily, dropping her head down on the floor._

_"Soon many people will need you," her father's soft voice lulled her to sleep. Through the blur of her vision she could see her father's arm reach over and touch Anna's head and then held his hand over the fire. Elsa could swear she saw his hand getting licked by the flames but he didn't flinch as he continued to speak. "And one day you'll understand what that means for you."_

 

News of the Snow Queen spread like wildfire. By the next morning she was all over the newspapers and TV. The pictures that people had taken of her last night had flooded the Internet. When Elsa made her way into the mansion's den, the large flat screen was displaying news reports of her brief sighting. Kai was furious and Anna was over the moon.

"What's this?" Kai snapped, tossing the newspaper on the glass coffee table.

Elsa glanced down at the picture on the front page. A photo of her staring at the crowd with her head held high, declaring her name. The bold writing of the headline read, 'The Snow Queen, Saviour of Insinius.'

She shrugged. "A newspaper," she answered indifferently, walking past him before curling up on the plush couch. "I'm not going apologize for it. In case you haven't noticed, the Snow Queen is actually making things better."

"The Snow Queen?" Kai grunted, taking up the paper again. "You named yourself after a fairytale."

"I like the name," Anna stated from her spot on the chair. She saw that no one really glanced at her. "Not that anyone cares."

Elsa crossed her arms over her chest defensively "It's a better name than most," she replied to Kai. "I would rather be a fairytale tale than some ice pun that the city comes up with."

"That's not the point Elsa," he sighed in aggravation. "This isn't a game. You don't understand how dangerous this is."

"I actually understand exactly how dangerous it is," she argued insistently with a scowl on her face. "I was almost shot in the head yesterday!"

"You what?" Anna and Kai shouted in unison causing Elsa to flinch back slightly. She mentally slapped herself for letting that slip. She would never here the end of this.

"Who shot at you?" Kai demanded angrily.

Elsa shook her head. "I don't know," she answered defensively. "I couldn't really see their faces in the dark."

Kai growled, irritated beyond all reason. "I told you this would happen Elsa!" he yelled. "If you keep putting you're life on the line, you'll get killed."

"What do you expect me to do?" she snapped back. "Watch helplessly from the sidelines as people get hurt. I have these powers for a reason. And I'm not going to keep locking them up while I could be helping people. You can't stop me."

There was a long silence that passed between the two of them. Elsa continued to glare at him, unrelenting. Kai stood up straight and tossed the newspaper back on the table. He straightened out his suit before casting Elsa a disapproving look.

"Fine," he stated callously. "You're grounded."

Elsa's jaw dropped to the floor. She hadn't been grounded since she was ten.

"What?" she exclaimed, standing from the couch. Her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white. "You're grounding me for saving a guy's life?"

"I'm grounding you for going out and almost getting killed," he responded in disinterest. "When you stupidly risk your life, you should expect some sort of punishment."

Elsa scoffed. "I can't believe this," she grumbled, glaring at the ground petulantly. "This is so stupid."

He gave her a stern look, and she couldn't meet his eyes. He made her feel like she was a misbehaving toddler. "Watch your tone young lady," he warned.

"I don't get you," she continued to protest. "Nothing happened to me. I'm fine."

"Yes," Kai agreed. "For now. But how long will that last. Do you know how many enemies Metro Man made by doing the exact same thing you're doing? Do you realize how much danger you've just put yourself in?"

Elsa clenched her fists tightly at her sides and failed to notice frost crawling up her arms. A memory of her father flashed into her mind, even though it was fuzzy and difficult to remember the details now. But she did remember one thing clearly as if she heard it only yesterday. That was probably because she thought of it all the time since her parents died.

_You'll understand, when you're ready._

The things that her father said that night rose up in her mind, filling her with a sense of purpose. She walked up to him, tilting her chin up defiantly.

"I'm not a child anymore," she asserted, her voice breaking with emotion. "I'm not a fragile doll. I know the dangers. I understand that it's crazy and people will probably keep trying to kill me. But I cant hide anymore. People need me. And I understand that now," she whispered, all the rigidness in her voice was gone.

Kai stared at her with sharp dark green eyes. Elsa could see his eyes soften at her words. But in an instant the vulnerability was gone.

"You're going to the Christmas party this weekend," he stated sternly. "But after that you're grounded for the rest of the Christmas break."

With that said, he stormed out of the room, leaving the two sisters in stunned silence. Elsa looked down at her icy hands.

Anna got up from her chair and walked up behind her sister. She placed her hand on Elsa's sisters shoulder. She offered a bright smile.

"I'm proud of you," she beamed. "Kai is too."

Elsa snorted in derision before flopping back down on the couch. "Yeah," she chortled. "He looked very proud when he grounded me for being a vigilante."

Anna bit her lip and shuffled awkwardly on her feet. "Well," she started slowly. "He's just scared of losing you. We're all he has."

Elsa looked up at her with wide blue eyes. Ever since their parents had died, Kai had been their to take care of them. He had taken the responsibility of being the father of two young girls. He fell into the role and was reacting the way any father would act if their child was risking their life like Elsa was. She knew that, but thinking about it made her feel guilty for making him worry.

"I mean, I am too," Anna continued softly. "Kai's right, it's dangerous. But I know that you can do this. I believe you can do this. And I don't know if anyone else can. Or will."

Elsa looked down at her hands. The ice layer was slowly melting away with the help of Anna's warm words. She reached up and her ice cold hand grasped Anna's warm ones. The two sisters smiled at each other and a beat of understanding passed between them. Elsa smiled softly and Anna beamed back.

"Thanks Anna," she said gratefully, squeezing her sister's hand. "I don't think I could do this without you."

Anna grinned in response. "Nope. You sure couldn't."

Without warning, Anna pulled Elsa up from the couch and started to to lead her to estate gardens. Elsa was caught off guard by her sister dragging her out to the centre gallery and then rear foyer, and then even more confused when she was dragged outside to the terrace.

"What are you doing?" Elsa asked as Anna yanked her under the garden gazebo.

"Mom and Dad always said to practice your powers outside right?" Anna stated with a shrug.

Elsa pulled her hand away at that moment, feeling a familiar ache swelling in her chest. It had gotten easier to to talk about them over the years. She had all the long talks and heartfelt moments with Anna and Kai. She had heard over and over how it wasn't an accident and that she shouldn't blame herself. But she still did blame herself, Anna's love and unfailing confidence was what kept her floating.

It had never been easy to deal with the memory of her parents even though she barely remembered them anymore. She remembered her father's voice and warm smile, her mother's big sparkling blue eyes and soft skin. Anna remembered even less about them, since she was so young when they died. But they still lingered in every room and crevice. They left gaping holes in their lives and hearts that were impossible to ignore.

Elsa swallowed her guilt and nodded silently. Anna, understanding the thoughts that were filtering through her sisters mind, placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I think they would have been proud of you too," she said softly, her eyes gleaming with affection and warmth.

Elsa could only smile lovingly in response. She wasn't sure how she could possibly deal with anything without Anna there. She turned towards the open garden. The staff was limited in the castle, and practically no one was there at that point in the morning. So the gardens were just a wide empty space, with the bare bushes and trees, and the slightest bit of snow coating the soil.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Elsa asked, clueless on where to start. She looked down at her hands, ice shards were prickling up from her skin. She flexed her hand so that icicles flew off her palm and turned into a flurry of snowflakes.

"I dunno," Anna shrugged. "Just go with the flow."

Elsa shot her a skeptical look before focusing on her hands. She shot her hand out and watched as the ice that spiralled from her palm created a long path of ice that swirled and spun around the garden.

Anna stared out at the frozen patterns that laced the ground with a look of awe. She looked back up at her sister to see her forming snow sculptures and ice sculptures. Most of them seemed like random sculptures of animals and different famous art pieces. But Anna smiled when she noticed that there was one of her as well.

"That's so cool Elsa," Anna whispered, coming up beside her to get a better view of the art. "Pun intended."

Elsa chuckled to softly. "Thank you," she giggled, before straightening her features and looking down at the art with cold determination. "Now I need to thaw it all."

Anna's head whipped around to look at her with a bewildered stare. "W-what?" she stuttered. "What do you mean?"

"I need to be able to undo everything that I make," Elsa responded, narrowing her eyes on her creations. "Otherwise all the ice paths I use will make it really easy for people to find me. Also I don't want to leave ice spikes all over the city. That would be a little problematic."

Anna pursed her lips and thought that over. It was true that Elsa's ice didn't melt for weeks, sometimes months. But she had never tried thawing it all out on her own before. Anna wasn't exactly sure where or how she was supposed to start.

Elsa held out her hand and focused hard on the ice statue in front of her. Her face twisted in determination as she continued to stare at the statue, willing it to melt in her mind. She stood there with her hand out for a good five minutes.

"It's not working," she stated blankly. Frustration rose in her chest. "Why isn't it working?"

When she threw her arms up in annoyance, a flash of ice shot from her hand and coated the sculpture in another layer of frost.

"Ugh!" Elsa growled, feeling herself shake with anger. She noticed ice prickling up from beneath her feet.

Anna frowned when she looked over the ice sculptures. "You're probably just thinking to much," she answered, trying to be supportive. "And whenever you overthink things, you get stressed and angry. And then you start to worry and feel all insecure. And then you think about all the things that are going wrong. And then you get more frustrated cause you start overthinking things again-"

Elsa shot her a glare. "Does this rant have a point?"

Anna let a small smirk curl at her lips. "You get caught in this cycle of emotions and I don't think that helps with your ice powers," she stayed with a shrug. "If you calm down, and think happy thoughts, maybe you'll get a better grip on it or something. Like I've heard about these people that can knock you out without touching you because of their chi. Well I'm not actually sure what it was but it sounded really cool."

Elsa raised a skeptical brow, a tiny smile gracing her lips. Her sister's little tangents and awkward explanations caused a warmth to raise in her stomach.

"You can do it!" Anna encouraged her as she backed up and gave her a thumbs up with a cheerful smile. "I believe in you!"

Elsa turned back to the ice sculptures, trying not to focus on her frustration and think of something calming. Something that made her happy. Immediately her mind went to Anna. Anna and her endless optimism and unconditional love. She thought of Merida and her fearlessness, her strength and loyalty that could never be challenged. She thought of Hiccup and his kindness, determination, and brilliant ideas. She even thought of Kai and his overbearing nature, his deep and boundless concern for her and Anna.

She held out her hand at stared out at the sculpture, her mind narrowed on the people that she loved in her life. Her friends and her family. She flexed her hand one more time.

At first there was simply an empty silence that seemed to drag on for centuries, only to be broken by the sound of howling winds. Elsa and Anna's eyes widened in shock as small snowflakes started to lift away from the sculpture, starting out in small flurries that slowly became larger. The ice sculpture dissolved away and the snowflakes vanished with a wave of her hand, fading into the sky.

A smile twitched at her lips as she focussed on the other sculptures and started to melt them away. Each time she successfully dissolved a sculpture and made the snowflakes melt away, her smile grew even bigger brighter. A small laugh escaped her throat as the ice path she made, vanished with a wave of her hand, only leaving behind traces of water.

Anna squealed in delight and tackled her sister, trapping her in a suffocating embrace. "You did it!" she giggled. "I knew you could do it!"

Elsa couldn't help the excited laughter that bubbled up from her chest like she was a bottle of shaken champagne. Anna joined in the joyous laughter, twirling her in a circle. Their rejoicing could be heard across the estate, echoing through the garden.

**~Unknown~**

The blaring of his cell phone ring jolted him out of his state of melancholy. He quickly answered without a beat of hesitation, new exhilaration flooding his mind.

"Is everything ready?" he demanded eagerly.

"Yes," the smoky voice replied on the other end. "And the stickup for the party has been set up too. We made sure to get only the new and useless guys in on it."

"Good," he nodded, a malicious grin twisted his lips. "Make sure to leave no trace of your entry of the lab. We want this to be as quiet as possible."

"Come on boss," the voice laughed. "Sure we may not have Rider anymore, but my men will definitely be able to pull off this heist. Especially with the distraction we set up for the little Ice princess."

"Just don't screw it up," he replied carelessly. "You know that we need those samples."

"Yeah, Yeah," the other man sighed. "No worries. You'll get your precious plant samples."

"Don't sound so disgruntled," he replied with a but amusement soaking his words. "When these experiments are done, I'll be able to make us immortal."

**~Hiccup~**

The suit was made of one of the finest materials that could be found, though Hiccup couldn't exactly place the name of it. It has been adjusted to fit his lanky frame by the best tailor in the city. It was crisp, well fitting, and soft, but he still felt about as comfortable as he would be being starch naked in public.

Stoic Haddock hated these kind of events just as much Hiccup did. But as the Commissioner, it was expected of him to be at this kind of event. Not only that, but he was almost positive that this Christmas party would be a gold mine for some of the more stupid criminals in Insinius. Even with the new hero in town, there were some thugs who walked around like the city was still theirs. Hiccup wasn't sure if there was any group of criminals stupid enough to try a stunt like crashing an elite party where the cops can show up almost immediately. He didn't have the guts to say it out loud in front of his father though, plus that would probably tempt fate a little too much.

Hiccup strayed away from his father as he started to talk to certain politicians that he was actually comfortable talking to. Of course they would only be talking about the crime rate and probably the Snow Queen, so Hiccup chose that opportunity to disappear into the crowd.

The place was filled to the brim with expensive evening gowns and fine suits. Everybody dressed up to impress and silently judging each other as they glanced about the room.

Hiccup felt out of place in such a crowd. One thing that he took from his father would definitely be his dislike for these extravagant parties. Even though he was dressed like everyone else, he still shuffled awkwardly and shrunk more within himself, trying his hardest not to trip in his dress shoes and knock someone over. He'd never hear the end of it from his father.

As he shuffled through the crowd, he caught sight of a familiar head of flaming red curls. Though now her head looked less like a rats nest and was pulled into a high messy bun. It certainly looked much classier than it normally did. As he started walking towards her, he got close enough to take a good look at her dress. It was an aqua blue strapless dress, that tightly held her torso to about her mid thigh and then flared out to the floor like the tail of a mermaid. The top was bedazzled with sparkling gemstones while the bottom mostly consisted of ruffles and frills.

He couldn't stop himself as guffawed at the sight.

Merida immediately turned to face him, her eyes narrowing as she gave him one of her deadliest glares. He instantly regretted laughing out loud, but he couldn't even contain himself as more laughter started to bubble up to his throat. He bit his lip and rocked back and forth in order to keep from exploding.

"Don't you dare say anything," she warned as she walked up to him. "Or I will castrate you."

He burst, loud and obnoxious laughter spilling from his lips. Merida's face turned beat red and she continued to stare him down. Hiccup knew he was a dead man in that moment and the laughter started to die away.

"Please don't kill me," he begged, out of breath. Another tiny giggle escaped his mouth.

Merida's eyes flared and she looked like she was going to beat him to death with his own arm. But before she could get started, she was interrupted by someone calling out to them.

"Hiccup! Merida!" Elsa's clear voice addressed them as she pushed her way through to meet them. Her dress was much more simple though it was also floor length like many of the dresses there. It was dark turquoise, sleeveless, and flowed freely down from her waist. The only accessory was a silver belt around her waist.

She smiled softly as she walked up beside the two of them. Hiccup could see a twinkle of amusement as she looked over Merida.

"I love your dress," she commented, holding back a smile. "It's...a beautiful colour."

The red head rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Yeah yeah," she groaned. "Yuck it up. But when I die of suffocation, I expect a little more respect from you two jerks."

Elsa sighed and smiled happily. "You really do look beautiful," she said honestly. "Just a little..."

"Like a cupcake," Hiccup finished for her with a slight grin.

"Shove it, stick man," Merida sneered, punching his shoulder.

For such a tiny girl, she could really pack a punch. Hiccup rubbed his bruised shoulder.

"Where's Anna?" He asked curiously.

Elsa motioned over her shoulder. "With her eye candy," she snarked.

Behind her, Anna stood in an emerald cocktail dress coated in black beaded floral designs. She was giggling happily as she spoke to the young man beside her. Hans Westergard was unfairly good looking with his bright smile and straight nose. He actually had the form to properly fill out a suit. He was the same age as Hiccup, Elsa and Merida but he never really socialized with them. He was part of the more popular crowd. Thankfully he wasn't in Jackson Overland's band of jackasses. Anna and Hans had been nearly inseparable ever since they started dating a few months ago. Whenever there was a big event like this, they were constantly side by side. And the media just ate them up. With Hans' family being the owners of the billion dollar biological research company, southern industries, along with Anna's family being the owners of the technological company North Mountain Inc, the two were the perfect couple in the eyes of the press. Even Hiccup had to admit they were kind of adorable.

The three of them turned away from the couple and Merida started to ask them if they wanted to go up to her uncle's ski resort for New Years.

"He's a bit crazy," she admitted with a shrug, "But we can avoid him if stay away from the bar."

Elsa sighed, frustration clear in her expression. "I can't go anywhere after this stupid party," she huffed. "I'm grounded for the rest of Christmas break."

There was a moment of stillness where Merida and Hiccup stared at her in stunned silence. Then suddenly Merida chortled, bending over as far as her dress would allow.

"Grounded?" she wheezed through her snorts. "You?"

Elsa casted a glare at the two of them as they both burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter. The space in between her eyebrows crinkling up like it always did when she was very pissed off. They earned a few glares from people around them as well.

"What did Kai ground you for?" Hiccup gasped.

"What could he ground you for?" Merida laughed. "Are you too polite? Did you apologize too many times?"

"Are your grades too good?" Hiccup chuckled.

"Were you just too much of a goody two shoes today," Merida snickered.

Elsa scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I am not a goody two shoes," she protested with a huff. "I was grounded because..."

She trailed off looking unsure of what to say. Hiccup was going to press her further, but an explosion of gunfire erupted from the halls front entrance.

There were screams of panic rising all around the three of them and people pushing and shoving to get away from gun shots. Elsa looked over at the entrance with a glazed look in her eye before taking off through the swarm of people and disappearing in the chaos. Merida ended up getting pulled off to the side by the burly ox like figure of her father. Hiccup tried to follow them, but someone rammed right into his back, knocking the air out of him and sending him colliding to the ground.

There was more gun fire and everyone in the room huddled in droves as far away from the weapons as they could get. Hiccup was left on his own lying on the ground in the middle of the ball room.

"Well, look at all these pretty pigeons," a strong cockney accent cut through the tension and chaos, causing everyone to fall silent in fear. "You all get decked up for your bloody Christmas party. Spending all your damn riches on a new pair of shoes while your city falls apart. People like you make me sick. You're all a bunch of self indulgent sheep. You let whatever masked vigilante comes along take care of the city for you while you live it up and spit on everyone under you. Clearly, none of you know what you are doing with your money. And we decided to take all that responsibility off your hands."

Hiccup turned his head to look up at the man holding a machine gun. He was standing right over him with four goons with guns at his back. They had their aim trained on the crowd.

The cockney man looked down at Hiccup with frighteningly pale blue eyes. His sharp chin cocked to the side like he was a lizard.

"Alright kid," he addressed Hiccup with a malicious smirk. "Hand over everything you got. Wallet, Rolex watches or anything else that has some sort of monetary value."

Hiccup gritted his teeth as he got off the ground and into a kneeling position. "I don't have anything," he sneered. He was being honest. He never brought any money to these things. Mostly cause his father didn't really trust him with money after that incident where he bought a boat. He never really saw the need for having expensive accessories either.

"You know kid," the man growled. He shoved the barrel of the gun against Hiccup's forehead, causing his breath to hitch in his throat. A cold sweat broke on his forehead as he stared out in terror. "I really don't want to get any attitude from a spoiled rich pussy like you."

"And I really don't want to deal with loudmouth scumbags like you," a crystal clear voice pierced through the tension. A voice that was eerily familiar. Hiccup turned his head as much as he could without moving the gun and stared in shock and awe at the sight of the girl before him. She had her gloved hands planted on her hips and stood boldly before the thugs with a deadly look in her eyes. Even with her face mostly hidden by her mask, Hiccup could just make out a crinkle between her eyebrows, a detail that reminded him of a certain blonde whenever she was pissed off. One would normally brush off seeing something like this, but Hiccup had always had an eye for the details. And he knew this one wasn't going to slide in his mind. The girls eyes darted to him for a moment before flashing back to the thug with the gun at Hiccup's head. Hiccup caught the ice blue colour in her eyes and he felt recognition clutch at his mind.

She flashed the man a mischievous smirk. "But you can't always get what you want.”


	8. Weary Of Their Tyranny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Secrets, silent, stony sit in the dark palaces of both our hearts: secrets weary of their tyranny: tyrants willing to be dethroned."
> 
> James Joyce

**~Elsa~**

Elsa watched on baited breath as the gunman slowly moved his machine gun away from Hiccup's face. She could feel Hiccup's eyes on her the entire time and couldn't help but tremble with nervousness. She quickly shoved down her anxiety and stared at the thug with unflinching eyes as he aimed the gun at her head. Hiccup was shoved to the ground as the leader's attention was trained fully on her. He lay on the floor, still as a rock, staring up at her with a look of numb shock.

"The Snow Queen," the man stated with a smirk. He looked oddly pleased with himself. "I was hoping you would show up."

Elsa looked him over skeptically and cocked her hip to the side. "Were you?" she asked with mock interest as she began to form shards of ice within her fingers. "Well I'm flattered, but I think your hopes are a bit misplaced."

"I don't think so," the man replied with a smirk, cocking his machine gun. "'Cause now, I get to be the one to kill you."

The explosion of gunfire forced her to duck out of the way. She created a wall of ice between herself and the oncoming gunshots.

The barricade of ice flew up just a second too late and a stray bullet ripped through Elsa's side. She doubled over in pain and a strangled gasp escaped her lungs. Convulsions of agony ripped up her nervous system and she lost all ability to move. Blood blossomed from the clean, circular bullet wound above her hip and streamed down her leg. Swallowing the dry lump in her throat, she forced herself to straighten up and formed a thick cloth from her ice and wrapped it tightly around her abdomen. She winced when the cold icy cloth coiled tightly around the wound, but she knew it was the only way to stop the bleeding.

"Not bulletproof," the man mused to himself as he observed the blood trickling down from her hip. "That just makes this way too easy."

Elsa's eyes darted to each of the men, calculating how quickly she could disarm them without hurting any of the bystanders. With everyone surrounding them on all sides, she had to be sure that she didn't hit any of them with her ice. Which might be a bit difficult with all of them standing around and gawking at her. She would just have to go for broke and hope for the best.

"Everybody get down!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

Not paying attention to the party goers jolting and scrambling in panic to drop to the floor, she turned to the thug closest to her. There were about twelve of them surrounding her. If she wanted to disarm them all, she would have to move fast.

Sparks of ice shot from her hand and engulfed the arm of the man in front of her, along with the gun he was holding in his hand. He let out a blood curdling scream when he looked down at his frozen limb. Elsa winced at the sight. She really needed to learn how to tone her ice back.

She quickly shook away her concern and whipped around to force a wall up between her and another onslaught of bullets. She poured all her energy into reinforcing the wall with as much ice as possible. Once she was sure she was sufficiently protected from the gunfire, she plotted out where each of the thugs stood. They formed a small semi circle around her wall, the rifles they held were at the height of their shoulders. She would need to start at one side of the semi circle and then work her way around. Elsa waited a split second until she was sure most of them were out of bullets. Focusing on the first side of her ice wall, she dissolved a portion of the ice wall that blocked her from the first man and absorbed it back into her palm. Her hands glowed blue from the sheer potential energy and cold that emanated from them. She held her arm out at about the height of her shoulder and aimed straight at their guns as the men scrambled to refill their ammunition. Ice erupted from her hands and shot out at each of the men like lightning. She could hear their cries of panic as she froze their guns from the inside out, preventing them from ever working properly again. The thugs were forced to drop the weapons, the sharp and icy touch of the metal burning their hands. She had taken out the first ten guys in the blink of an eye, but when her eyes returned to the leader, she froze in fear.

Hiccup was trapped in a headlock, with the barrel of a gun at his ear, threatening to blow his brains out at any second. The thug leader stared at her with panic in his eyes. As he observed her horror at seeing her friend's life endangered, a crazed smile twitched at his lips.

"You're no Metro Man," the man stated with the slightest laugh in his voice. Elsa didn't even meet his stare. Her eyes were locked on Hiccup. "You're not indestructible, or strong, or fast. And there's no way you'll be able to stop this kids brains from being splattered against the god damn wall."

Elsa bristled visibly but didn't respond. She only stood shock still, hoping that some divine intervention would swoop in and give her an edge. Her mind raced at the speed of light, zipping through plans and possibilities that could stop this guy. If she could just find a way to distract him, get his attention away from Hiccup.

Her eyes darted to the tall and glittering Christmas tree that stood behind the man in one corner of the banquet hall. It was decorated with dozens of glass ornaments that could easily shatter.

"What exactly are you expecting?" Elsa asked, keeping herself collected and her voice cool as best as she could. She stepped forward with one foot and spirals of frost erupted from beneath her boot. She kept the man's eyes on her the whole time by continuing to speak and moving closer to him bit by bit. "Your lackeys are disarmed and this heist you pulled is kind of a bust. It might be a bad idea to keep digging this hole, don't cha think?"

The ice crept up the tree trunk and spread across the branches. The man's eyes narrowed on her, not noticing as her frost coated the outside of each of the ornaments. She kept eye contact with him and silently manipulated the path of the frost with the flex of her fingers. The glass was soon surrounded by an incredibly cold temperature at an amazingly fast rate.

The glass shattered and the sound echoed through the hall, the leader whipped around to face the tree. His gun flew away from Hiccup's head and aimed at the tree for a split second. It was the opening Elsa was hoping for.

Without a second of thought, she hurled herself at the thug. All three of them cried as they collapsed violently onto the floor. Hiccup was able to scramble out of the man's grip since he was preoccupied with trying to aim his firearm at her. But before he could fire the gun, Elsa wrapped her hands around the barrel and froze it from the inside out. The guy growled in frustration when he discovered the gun was jammed and Elsa smiled viciously at his expression, her blood staining her teeth.

When he saw her expression, he seethed with rage and smashed his weapon into the side of her face. She was sent hurtling to the ground with a loud smack against the pavement. Blood splattered from her lips onto the floor and her jaw cracked painfully against the tile.

Elsa stuck her hand out and fired ice at the man's arm before he could hit her again. She couldn't see him with her vision blurred, and she could barely hear his scream of pain and frustration since her ears were ringing. She winced as she stumbled back onto her feet. The world spun around her and she tried to focus and get her bearings. A pare of hands grabbed her arm. More joined, holding down her arms and legs and restricting her hands behind her back. The rest of the thugs were holding her hands at bay so she couldn't try to freeze any of them. Each of them were so much stronger than her, she couldn't move an inch. She struggled in vain as the leader stood, a malicious grin twisting his face. His left arm was coated in a thin layer of ice and his skin was turning red and burning under the extreme cold.

He pulled out a switch blade with his other hand and flicked it open. Elsa's heart flared with panic, but she desperately tried to contain her fear. She couldn't let her powers get the better of her.

Her head snapped up as a tiny light bulb flashed above her head. Well that was a bit of a "duh" moment for her.

She let the fear and panic set in and relished in the feeling of her heart pounding like a jackhammer. Ice swirled beneath her feet and snow started to fall from above her, becoming heavier and heavier until she couldn't see the leader, and he couldn't see her. Elsa could feel the men holding her tense. But before they could react, she screamed as loud as she could, letting out all the fear in a blast of ice that shot out of her like a bullet. The men flew off her and were knocked to the ground. Everyone within a close distance was blasted back with the explosion of ice she had created.

Elsa forced herself into a state of calm by reminding herself the Hiccup was okay. Love swelled in her chest and the snow storm dropped, revealing the damage she had done. Practically all civilians had fled from the hall while the fight was going on. She couldn't see anybody left in the room other than her and the criminals. Each of the thugs was now sprawled on the ice covered floor. They were groaning in pain from the impact and from the frost that had coated their faces. She turned to the leader who was also on the ground, groaning and covered in a sheet of snow. The knife and jammed gun had flown out of his hand in the chaos. None of them looked like they were gonna get up any time soon.

"Elsa?" a male voice asked her softly. A whisper she could barely hear. Her eyes widened as she whipped back around to face a pair of dark green eyes.

Hiccup stared at her, a look of complete shock on his face. She subconsciously reached up to touch her mask to make sure it was still there. She couldn't look away as his eyes trailed down from her face to her bloody side. With the adrenaline draining from her system, the pain from the bullet wound burned her nerves and shot up her spine. She could feel herself becoming dizzy and disoriented.

"Are you alright?" he asked, walking closer to her. She backed away in response. "It's okay, Els. It's me. I'm your friend."

She didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything. How was she supposed to respond to this? She had kept her secret from her friends for so long, but now everything was falling apart. When one of them knew what she really was, how would they respond? Hiccup knew everything now. He knew. How did he know? What did this mean for them?

"That is you, isn't it Els?" Hiccup asked carefully, seeming uncertain.

Hearing the pounding of footsteps outside the hall, Elsa started backing away to the nearest exit. She couldn't think about her jeopardized identity. Commissioner Haddock must have gotten all of his men into the building. She needed to get out of there before they caught her.

Elsa created skates beneath her feet and skated away past Hiccup.

"Wait!" he called to her. But she didn't turn around, she just kept skating until she was out of sight and out the back door of the banquet hall.

Elsa snuck out of the back door of the building. There were police officers patrolling all the sides of the building. She thought about dissolving her costume and pretending that she was the last person to escape the building. But that would draw suspicion to herself since no one else was leaving the building. She couldn't let anymore people know who she was. It was too dangerous for her family.

They needed to see the Snow Queen leave.

Without a second thought, she created an ice path down a dark alley behind the building. She raced down the path, skating as fast as she could past the police officers. They shouted at her in protest, but they didn't chase after her or try to stop her. Thankfully the whole city was pretty much enamoured with her since she was the only hero they had.

She glided away and around a corner, going as far as she could, lifting away the ice path behind her and creating more in front of her. The blood continued to drain out of her and she skated on until she could no longer keep herself standing.

Elsa toppled to ground with a painful thud. Her muscles ached from overuse, and she could feel her bones crack from the impact. But none of that pain compared to the digging pain in her side that pulsed through her system like a virus. She curled up in a ball on the hard cement. She knew with sudden clarity that the gunshot was more serious than she thought. She was dying here in this cold and deserted alley. It was only the adrenaline that had been keeping her alive. But now nothing was stopping her from passing out. Her side burned, but even the pain wasn't enough to keep her conscious. She tried to speak, and call out for help, but she could only cough up blood. As the world around her faded away, she thought of Anna. And for a brief moment she thought of her parents. A crystal clear picture of their faces flashed across her mind, and then everything went black.

**~Hiccup~**

Hiccup stood in the middle of the banquet hall in a stunned silence as the police officers stormed the room. Their guns were trained on him and they were telling him to put his hands in the air. He didn't pay attention to them, his eyes were trained on the door that the Snow Queen had just escaped through. The entire floor was blanketed with a thick cover of snow that was slowly thawing beneath his feet.

The thieves that had tried to crash the Christmas party were being dragged up from the ground, handcuffed, and taken away. One of them put a hand on his shoulder and roughly pulled his hands behind his back. Before Hiccup could protest, a powerful voice pierced the air.

"Stop Johnson," Stoic Haddock shouted from the doorway.

He marched up to the police officer and loomed over him threateningly. Hiccup was released when the man holding him immediately stood to attention and let go under the commissioner's gaze.

"My son isn't one of the criminals," he stated simply. He turned to his son with sharp gray eyes that caused Hiccup to shrink ever so slightly. "Did they do anything to you? Were you hurt at all?"

"I'm fine dad," Hiccup answered, shifting uncomfortably under his father's suspicion. "Nothing happened to me."

His father gave a gruff nod before turning his attention back to his police officers. Hiccup was pushed off to the side by his father's big meaty hands. His father continued to ignore him as he started barking orders to his officers, so Hiccup decided to slip away out the door. Outside the hall there was a massive crowd of people dressed in their finest attire, shivering in the December chill. Most were shuffling off into their preferred vehicles and heading home, but some still stood around, waiting for a ride. Hiccup couldn't see Merida anywhere. It was more than likely that when her father dragged her out of the hall he took her and her family back home. Hiccup was able to spot a tiny strawberry blonde in a green cocktail dress. She was bundled up in Hans' coat but she was still shivering violently in the cold winter air. Anna was tucked under her boyfriend's arm as he spoke vehemently into his cell phone. He seemed more frustrated than usual. When Anna saw Hiccup approaching them, she released herself from the hold and up to him.

"Hiccup!" she called out to him, her high heels crunching on the snow covered pavement. "Have you seen Elsa? I can't find her anywhere."

Hiccup looked her up and down suspiciously. She didn't really look like she was trying to hide anything, but he wasn't sure he could actually depend on what he could see in her face. He wasn't sure if he could trust her in that way anymore, or her sister for that matter.

"I saw her inside," Hiccup replied in a voice more calm and collected than actually he felt. "At least I believe it was her. She was wearing a mask and a white costume at the time."

Anna's back went stiff as a rod and her eyes widened into saucers. She stared at him like a deer caught in headlights with her mouth gaping open, until a hand came down on her shoulder. She whipped around to face Hans' concerned face.

"Is everything alright?" he asked her. She could only nod dumbly in response. "I need to leave. My parents called in a company emergency. Apparently someone broke into one of the science labs. My brothers are pissed and want me home as soon as possible."

"Okay," Anna said softly. "I have to stay here. I need to look for Elsa."

"Alright," he responded with a curt nod. He brought his lips down on her forehead for a brief second before turning away. "Stay safe."

He strode off to where a few of his older brothers were yelling and shoving each other into their limo.

Anna turned back to him with a deadly serious expression. "How did you find out?" she asked suspiciously, her eyes piercing his like knives.

"I took a guess when I heard her voice," he replied with a shrug. "I recognized some things about her. When she escaped I tried to talk to her, but she just escaped."

Anna's face switched from serious to concerned in a split second. "Did you see where she went? Was she okay?"

Hiccup's mouth dropped open in shock. "So it's all true!" he exclaimed, but immediately lowered his voice so he wouldn't get any unwanted attention. "Elsa's the Snow Queen. She an unnatural with magical ice powers and she's been hiding them from me and Merida for God knows how long."

He paused in thought for a second before asking uncertainty. "Wait, are you an unnatural too?"

"No, I'm completely ordinary," Anna answered defensively. "And Elsa didn't have a choice but to hide her powers from you and Merida. She didn't want you to freak out."

"Why would she think we would freak out?" Hiccup asked, becoming defensive as well.

"You are freaking out," Anna stated, a deadpan expression on her face.

Hiccup straightened for a moment and his mind traveled to Elsa and the fearful expression on her face when he addressed her in the hall. He had thought that she was just afraid that her secret identity has been found out and that he would tell. But that wasn't what she was actually afraid of.

"She was afraid of us rejecting her," he whispered, more to himself than to Anna. "Of us turning away from her."

Anna only sighed and shook her head in exasperation. "Look Hiccup, I don't have time for this. I need to find my sister."

She turned away from him and started shuffling through the crowd, her gaze darting around in an attempt to find a trace of Elsa.

Hiccup pushed his way back to her and grabbed her hand.

"I know which way she went," he told her, pulling the girl around the back of the building. "I'll help you find her."

He didn't miss Anna's grateful smile as they milled through the crowd. His mind was a complete mess with the whirl of information and emotions that were racing around in there. There were so many thoughts clogging the corners of his brain. But one thought in particular was completely in focus. Elsa had been shot in the side and had been bleeding profusely when he saw her last. If they didn't get her medical attention immediately, he was sure she wouldn't survive. His stomach dropped like a rock and his heart beat a fraction faster. Hiccup quickened his pace, dragging Anna through the crowd with him.

They made it to the back of the building and Anna quickly started looking for a trail of ice, but she couldn't find anything.

"Of course she had to figure out how to hide her trail yesterday," she grumbled in frustration. "She couldn't have learned it tomorrow instead."

They continued to look for any sign of where she could have gone until they found a trail. Only the trail wasn't made of ice. The trail he found was red.

Anna's hand cupped over her mouth and she stood in silent shock.

"She's bleeding out," Hiccup whispered in horror. "We need to find her."

Without a second of hesitation, the two of them ran down the alley where the trail led. They ducked around corner after corner, following the bright red splatters of blood like they were a trail of bread crumbs. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them until the trail ended in the middle of the alley. A pool of blood gleamed in the moonlight on the cement ground.

Elsa was nowhere to be seen.

**~Elsa~**

_You're going again aren't you. Even after everything that's happened._

_Please try to understand. I have to do this. I have no choice._

_That's what you keep telling me, but I can't believe you anymore. I'm tired. I'm beyond tired of all this fear. Just stay here with your family, please. I only want you to be safe._

_I want the same for you. Which is why I have to go._

_You don't have to do anything! Stop pretending this is some great calling; it's not!_

_Keep your voice down, you'll wake Elsa._

She woke up with a start, her heart beating like a hammer. Thankfully it was still beating. The voices she had heard in her dreams had faded like ghosts in the passage of time. But she had recognized them as something she had heard many years ago, even though she couldn't place where.

Elsa could no longer feel the pain in her side from the gunshot. In fact there was no pain left at all. That was a bit of a shock to the system, considering how she was pretty sure she had been bleeding to death prior to being unconscious. She would have suspected that she was dead if not for her rapid heart beat and the air flowing in and out of her lungs. She didn't know where she was, but given by the softness under her body, she was pretty sure she wasn't in the alley anymore.

Her eyes burned from the brightness of the light that shines in them when she tried to open them. She squinted until her eyes adjusted and she was able to look around.

She was lying on a sofa, beside a table lamp where the bright light was coming from. There was a rickety coffee table in front of the couch and an old dinky TV on a shelf against the wall opposite to her. Despite the old and worn furniture, the room she was in was well kept and organized, giving it a subtle charm and warmth.

Elsa slowly sat up and glanced around unfamiliar surroundings. She seemed to be in a simple living room. But who's living room was she in?

Her eyes trailed down to her side. She was still in her costume, but the bandages she had wrapped around her side were gone. She ran her fingers over her unmarked stomach. There was no blood or scar or any trace of marred skin. Elsa wasn't exactly an expert in biology or how the human body healed, but even she knew that this was impossible. If anything she should be dead by now.

A startled gasp burst from behind her and Elsa whipped around to find a young woman standing in the kitchen that was attached to the living room. The woman stared at her with bright green eyes, filled with concern. Her golden hair fell in thick tresses, all the way down to the floor. She was older than Elsa, but not by much from what she could tell.

"You shouldn't be sitting up," she fretted, running over to where Elsa sat. She guided her head back down onto the couch again. She was too shocked to protest as she was forced back into a lying position. "You've lost a lot of blood. You're going to need some time to get your strength back."

Elsa stared up at the blonde with wide startled eyes. She wondered to herself if she should be worried for her safety. She was in a strange room with a woman she didn't know and her previous bullet wound had vanished into thin air, which made no sense. But even if she was in danger, she was too startled by everything else going on around her to actually do something about it.

"Who are you?" she sputtered in shock, sitting up again. "Where am I? What's going on?"

The woman was taken back in confusion for a moment. And then, to Elsa's shock, her face split into an amused smile. "Oh right, sorry, I always forget to introduce myself," she giggled. Running her hands through a lock of her golden hair, she started to mumble to herself. "I just get so caught up in the moment and I feel like I know you after last night. But you were unconscious at the time so I can see why you're confused. Sorry I'm ranting, aren't I."

She giggled to herself as she sat down in a chair beside the sofa and Elsa just stared. The woman coughed awkwardly before holding her hand out.

"Hi," she greeted her happily. "I'm Rapunzel."

Elsa rose a quizzical eyebrow and she felt the urge to snort in disbelief. It was certainly a fitting name, given the long blonde hair. Or maybe she had just grown into the name.

"Really?" Elsa said compulsively, a but of a sarcastic edge in her voice.

Rapunzel just smiled and shrugged. "My mother liked fairy tales," she answered lightheartedly, though there was a bit of sadness and hurt in her eyes when she mentioned her mother. "Oh, and don't worry about telling me your name. I know your secret identity is pretty important, considering you're a superhero and all."

Elsa reached up and made sure for a second time that her mask was still in place. Finding that it was, she smiled gratefully at Rapunzel. But then a sudden realization hit her. She had said last night when referring to her being unconscious. She couldn't see a window, so she couldn't tell if it was day or night.

"Wait, is it morning?" Elsa asked in panic as she sat up once again, her eyes darting around the room. "I need to get back home."

"No," Rapunzel said gently, her firm hand pushing Elsa back down on the couch. "If you try to get up you're going to pass out. I promise that you are going to be fine and you can leave in another 2 hours or so, okay."

Elsa nodded tiredly, feeling drained of her energy just from how hard she was breathing.

"It's 7 in the morning right now," Rapunzel said, her voice melodious and reassuring. "But I can let you call your family or friends if you want."

"Thank you," she sighed in relief. She glanced around the room again. "Is this your home?"

Rapunzel nodded cheerfully and motioned to the simple surroundings. "This is where the magic happens," she stated with a dorky grin. "Well not really magic, but you get the idea."

Elsa smiled a bit at the woman's cheerfulness, feeling more and more at ease. Even as she relaxed against the cushions at her back, one thought nagged at her mind.

"What happened to me?" she asked suspiciously. "Last thing I remember was dying from a bullet wound."

Rapunzel's smile faded and she took on a nervous and apprehensive expression.

"That's a bit difficult to explain," she trailed off uncomfortably. "You might freak out when you find out the truth."

Elsa cocked her head to the side in curiosity. "Did you heal me, somehow?" she asked, keeping her voice soft and gentle so she could get some sort of answer from the other blonde.

Rapunzel was running her fingers through her hair at a much faster rate and she bit her lip somewhat fearfully. Elsa recognized that look in her eyes, she had seen it in her mirror many times.

"I can blast ice from my hands and make it snow at the drop of a hat," Elsa stated with a carefree smile. "You can lay it on me."

Rapunzel looked her over with vulnerable green eyes before a tiny smile lit up her face. "I have magic hair that glows and moves and heals people when I sing."

Elsa's eyes widened in surprise for a second. The sheer strangeness in that statement was enough to weird her out quite a bit. But then realization struck her. If this girl was telling the truth, she would be the first other unnatural Elsa had ever really met. And that made her incredibly excited. She felt a certain awe when thinking of witnessing another unnatural's powers, the idea of it sounded really...cool.

She couldn't help but smile brightly as she tried to keep herself from laughing from giddiness. "Can you show me," she asked, sitting up with sparkling eyes.

Rapunzel's smile brightened and she glowed with the happiness of being accepted. She closed her eyes and a low hum came from the back of her throat. Her mouth opened and a pretty melody flowed from her lips like water. As her song became louder and louder Elsa noticed that her golden hair became brighter and brighter until it was glowing brighter than the lights within the room. A lock of her hair lifted from where it hung off her head, floating to the tune of her song. The hair seemed to grow in length as it traveled away from the two girls and over to where the kitchen was. Elsa watched in stunned silence and it coiled around a glass of water. The hair brought the glass straight into Rapunzel's waiting hand and it dropped back down as Rapunzel ended her tune.

"Wow," Elsa breathed, her eyes still wide and starstruck. "That was incredible."

"Thanks," Rapunzel laughed, blushing slightly. "You had one of the better reactions. Eugene flipped when I showed him."

"Who's Eugene?" Elsa asked curiously.

"Oh," Rapunzel said, slightly taken back by the question. "You've already met him. Don't you remember?"

Elsa frowned in confusion. "I don't remember meeting a guy named Eugene."

Before Rapunzel could respond, the front door of the room opened to reveal a tall man standing in an apartment hallway. When Elsa saw his face, her eyes widened in shock and recognition. The sharp features, dark eyes and hair, and the goatee on his chin immediately registered in her memory.

"Speak of the devil," Rapunzel grinned as she stood from the chair.

"You talking behind my back again Goldie?" the man teased. His eyes trailed to a shocked Elsa.

"You," she whispered. He was standing on two feet, looking like he hadn't just had his leg broken the other day.

The man known as Rider smirked mischievously at the look on her face. "Well, well, well, look who's awake."

**~Megamind~**

"The Snow Queen came just in time to rescue everyone present from the violent gunmen. Luckily no one was hurt and each of the perpetrators have been arrested and are set to go on trial. Today even more people are admiring and giving thanks to our new hero who is continuing to prove herself time and time again. The Snow Queen has certainly earned the title of Savior of Insinius."

Glittering green eyes gleefully watched Roxanne Ritchi continue to gush over this new hero. The city loved this cute little new girl and they were just eating her up. She had been fighting off a few petty crimes from what he heard and was doing quite admirably. Though she was admittedly a tad rusty at this hero business, Megamind knew that there was always room for improvement. He didn't expect this girl to fall into Metroman's shoes right off the bat, this was still only her origin story after all.

It was a perfect time to strike.

Ever since he had been thrown in jail his mind had been filing through battle strategy after battle strategy with the excitement of a young boy. Words couldn't describe how he had come to miss this over the last three months. His mind was racing with possibilities. With a new hero, came new challenges and new objects of mayhem.

But first, he needed to break out of prison.

Megamind glanced down at the bowl of cornflakes on his lap. With a wolffish smile, he spilled them onto the floor.

Time for phase one.


	9. They'll Always Be There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there."
> 
> Amy Li

**~Elsa~**

Her eyes bulged as she gaped at the man in front of her, whom she had saved only a few days prior. He sauntered over beside Rapunzel and draped his arm over her shoulders.

"You feeling better now that Rapunzel patched you up?" he asked casually. "You were half dead when I found you in that alley."

Elsa placed her feet on the ground and turned her body so she was fully facing the two of them.

"You're the one that found me?" she asked in surprise. Rider nodded with a grin, as if he had only picked up her phone and returned it to her, not saved her life.

"I picked you up and took you here," he said with a carefree shrug. "It's not like I could just leave you out in the streets. Not after you saved my ass the last time."

Elsa's brain clicked with understanding and she smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, mister..."

"Flynn Rider," he introduced herself with a nod. "But minus the mister, I'm not old enough for that yet."

Elsa couldn't help the small laugh that escaped from her lips.

"I thought you're name was Eugene," she replied with a smirk twitching at the corner of her lips.

Flynn's face went stark pale and he shot a glare at the giggling blonde beside him. Rapunzel tried desperately to stifle her laughter, but failed miserably.

"Sorry," she said breathlessly, a bit of guilt in her eyes as Flynn stared her down. "It kinda slipped out."

He rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Elsa with a charming smile. "I prefer Flynn," he stated. "Has a better ring."

Elsa looked at him curiously. "So I take it your leg is better," she said, motioning to the leg that had been maimed the last time they met.

Rapunzel started pulling at a long strand of hair. "I helped out with that," she answered, looking up at Elsa with an admiring smile. "But without you he would have been much worse. You really are a hero."

Elsa couldn't fight the blush that rose to her cheeks and she had to look down sheepishly at her white boots.

"It was nothing," she said. "What did those guys want with you anyway?"

There was a beat of tension that Elsa hadn't been expecting to go with her question. A look was exchanged between the two them, their eyes darkening with secrets. Flynn's eyes narrowed slightly and Rapunzel's mouth twitched downwards. She recognized that look. It was a look her parents shared many times. She always saw it whenever she asked certain questions about why they were always fighting or what happened when her father disappeared into the basement.

"It's better you don't know," Rapunzel said, her voice soft and barely above a whisper.

Elsa nodded considerately and her eyes drifted to the side of the apartment in thought. She had no right to burrow her way through their secrets that were theirs to keep. Not after everything they had done for her. So she dropped the topic immediately.

The window beside the couch that she hadn't noticed until now was covered by thick curtains, but she could still see streams of sunlight shine through the cracks.

Elsa's eyes widened in shock when she realized that she had been gone all night. Anna was probably worried out of her mind. And Kai. Kai was definitely going to kill her.

"I've gotta go." Elsa said, the words flying out of her mouth like a bullet. She zipped to the door at lighting speed. Rapunzel and Flynn looked on at her in shock and slight concern. "Thank you so much for your help."

She felt guilty leaving them with nothing after they both saved her from certain death. So Elsa reached for the necklace she had hidden under her top. The dark blue sapphire that hung from the silver chain glittered in the dull light of the apartment. It was extremely expensive, and would probably fetch a hefty price. She placed it on their kitchen counter before rushing out the front door, praying to God she wouldn't meet anyone in the hallway.

"Goodbye," she called out as she closed the door behind her, leaving her rescuers motionless in shock.

**~Anna~**

Anna paced the floor of her living room as Kai raved on the phone with some poor police officer. He had been furious that morning when she came back home after a long fruitless search with tears in her eyes. His eyes had widened in alarm when he saw that Elsa had not returned with them. And when Anna had told him about Elsa's deadly injury and the trail of her blood that lead nowhere, his face flushed with horror and he immediately got on the phone with the police.

She and Hiccup had checked all the hospitals in the area. They spent the whole night wandering the streets, searching for any sign of Elsa, but they hadn't found a thing. By the time Hiccup took her home, there were purple half moons under both of their eyes and their limbs sagged as they moved. Hiccup was now sitting on the plush couch with his face in his hands. Anna hadn't seen him move from that position in nearly an hour. She would've thought that he had fallen asleep were it not for his furious panicked muttering. She couldn't really hear what he was saying, but she knew he was going over everything and anything that could have happened to Elsa.

Anna herself couldn't stop pacing back and forth, hot tears streaming down her face as she desperately tried to control her erratic sobs. She kept imagining Elsa alone somewhere, cold and scared and bleeding to death. Her heart couldn't take the fear that curled around her heart like claws and dug into her flesh. She couldn't stop blaming herself for letting this happen. She encouraged Elsa to go out there and be a superhero. She pushed her to go save the city. And now Elsa could be...

Anna couldn't even bring herself to think it. All she could do was sob harder as her stomach was gripped by an uncomfortable clench and her heart ached in her chest. The fact that she couldn't even do anything but wallow in her fear and misery made it worse. She wished desperately that she could just magically know where she was, so that she could find her and save her, but all she could do was pace back in forth on the cold hard floor, the chill traveling up from her bare feet all the way up her body, making her feel even more cold, alone, and useless.

When she heard the familiar creek of the front doors being shoved open, her heart skipped a beat. Kai and Hiccup's faces snapped up unison when they heard the soft click of high heels on the tile floor. The three of them stayed frozen in place, unable to tell if their ears were playing tricks on them or not. None of them even dared to breathe for a short moment that seemed to drag on for centuries, until finally a voice cut through the air.

"Anna!" Elsa's voice called out from the front room of the mansion. "Kai! Are you guys home?"

With trembling fingers, Kai quietly ended his conversation with the police officer and hung up the phone. Hiccup stood from his first place on the couch, his eyes wide with shock.

Anna didn't waste a second of breath. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the front door, where Elsa stood in her gown from the night before.

Her hair was lose and fell in flaxen curls, down to her waist and she no longer had any carefully applied makeup on her face. Other than that she looked exactly the same as when Anna last saw her, as if her life hadn't been in danger and she hadn't been shot in the stomach. A relieved grin brightened Elsa's face when her sister entered the room, out of breath and still in her cocktail dress.

Anna's breath hitched in her throat when she saw her sister's beautiful smile, tears poured down her cheeks and she wept uncontrollably. Her legs carried her to Elsa and she hurled herself at her with a cry of joy. The two tumbled to the ground with a loud thump that echoed through the halls. She wrapped her arms around her sister's core as tightly as she could, so that she would never lose her again. Anna's tears soaked into the expensive silk of Elsa's dress as she sobbed her heart.

"Anna," Elsa whispered. She ran her soft fingers through Anna's tangled hair. "What's wrong?"

Anna lifted her face away from her stomach just enough to look up at her sister with glassy eyes. She sniffled slightly as she gripped her waist tighter. "I thought I lost you. I thought you were dead and that we would never be able to find you and..." She continued to blubber incoherently as her face sunk back into Elsa's stomach.

Elsa gently wrapped her arms around Anna as she rocked her back and forth, trying to shush her cries and calm her down. Eventually, Anna's cries faded and she lifted her red splotchy face from Elsa's chest and she sat up with a shaky sigh.

"I'm sorry," Elsa said, she gently stroked the side of Anna's face with a smile. "I didn't mean to make you worry so much. I would have called if I had the chance."

Anna looked at her with her head tilted to the side in question. "What happened to you?" she asked. "Hiccup said you were shot."

Elsa's eyes flickered slightly at the mention of Hiccup's name but then her gaze dropped to the floor. She looked like she was having trouble getting the words out.

"It's hard to explain," she answered, her voice low and her eyes didn't meet Anna's. "But don't worry, I'm fine now. In fact I'm completely healed."

"Elsa!"

Both their heads snapped towards the entryway to the front hall where Kai stood with an absolutely livid expression on his face. Even Anna was taken back by the burning ferocity in his eyes.

Elsa slowly stood, anxiously rubbing her arm as she struggled to meet Kai's eyes.

The two girls were expecting a verbal lashing from their caretaker, but were shocked when he instead marched over and wrapped his burly arms around Elsa, locking her in a choking embrace. She was pulled against the older man's chest, her ice blue eyes wide with alarm.

Anna watched in stunned silence as Kai grasped Elsa to his chest with his eyes closed tightly shut. His arms curled around her to hold her as tight as he could, and it looked like he was reluctant to release her. Elsa was stiff as a pole and didn't make any movement as her guardian slowly pulled away from her. His strong hands gripped her shoulders firmly as he pushed her away just enough to see her face.

"You are grounded for life young lady," he said as stonily as possible. There was a small break in his voice took away some of the intimidation. "Never pull a stunt like that again."

Elsa looked to the ground in shame. "I didn't mean to scare you," she whispered. "But I had to do-"

"You didn't have to do anything Elsa," he bellowed, silencing any of her retorts. "You think your obligated to keep this city from dying, but the truth is you don't owe any of these people anything."

Anna decided that this was probably a good time to step in.

"It was my fault Kai," Anna defended her sister. "I encouraged her to do this in the first place. Elsa was just doing what she thought was right."

Kai scoffed. "You sound just like..." He sighed without finishing his thought, rubbing his temples in frustration. Before he could continue, another voice sounded from the back of the hall.

"Elsa," Hiccup sighed in relief when he saw his friend, completely unscathed. "What happened to you? I thought you had been shot in the stomach."

When their eyes met, Anna could see her sister's face overflow with fear and uncertainty. She swallowed a dry lump in her throat and it looked as if she wanted to say something, but no words could come out of her mouth. Hiccup seemed hesitant to approach her but he managed to force himself forward all the same. His gaze shifted over to Kai.

He confessed. "It was actually my fault she got hurt in the first place. Elsa saved my life."

Hiccup smiled at her gratefully, soft and accepting warmth flooded his dark green eyes. Elsa only stared at him in response. Anna knew she was incredibly self conscious about her powers. Ever since they were little she had insisted on keeping them a secret like their father always told her to. She had always believed that people would fear her and her powers if they ever discovered the truth. The fact that someone was now reacting so calmly was probably throwing her a pretty damn big loop.

"I understand why you didn't tell me," Hiccup continued, somewhat anxious. "I probably wouldn't want to tell me either. But I won't tell anybody, I promise."

Elsa gaped at him in shock. "You're taking this extremely well," she stated softly, looking more than a little confused. Anna had to crack a small smile at the slack jawed look on her sister's face.

Hiccup scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, you did save my butt last night. I think the least I can do is be courteous."

Elsa could only stare in shock, her expression never changing as her mind whirled with disbelief. Anna in turn smiled gratefully at Hiccup. She was glad that he hadn't judged her sister for her powers. It was just the boost of confidence that Elsa needed.

Before any of the teens could speak again, everyone's attention snapped back to Kai when they heard the harshness of his voice.

"It's time for you to go home Howard," he said, his eyes sharp and narrowed in warning. "You may use the phone to call your father or a cab."

Anna stepped forward trying to calm his anger and defend Hiccup.

"Kai, he didn't do anything wrong," she protested. "Can't we just-"

"You are both grounded," Kai cut her off. "Go to your rooms."

"But-" Anna tried to press forward but was silenced by the freezing cold look in her guardian's eyes.

"Now." His voice was low and deadly, causing both the girls to shrink back.

The two sisters exchanged a look before shuffling off up the main flight of stairs. Anna glanced back at Hiccup to see him standing dejected at the bottom of the steps. He turned away with his shoulders slouched. Elsa didn't turn back to look at him at all.

**~Hiccup~**

Hiccup didn't want to call his father and he didn't really want to call a cab either. Even though he was emotionally and physically exhausted by the events of last night, he didn't even want to go home at that point. So he simply left the Arendelle family estate without another word as his friends were sent off to their room.

He had tried to look Elsa in the eye, convince her he wasn't bothered by her powers, not really. He had been stunned by the information and slightly hurt that she didn't trust him with the truth, but he didn't hold it against her. She however didn't seem to believe that he wasn't afraid of her, given her reaction to him. The lack of trust from her was a little disheartening, but he could understand her hesitance. If he had a secret like that, buried for such a long time, he wouldn't like it if someone found out without him telling them.

Hiccup continued down the road, not paying attention to which way he was going. His mind was too clogged with thoughts of his friend and everything that had happened the night before. The seriousness and dread of everything going on around him started to dawn on him as he walked onwards. Elsa was just a sixteen year old girl, she wasn't even out of high school, and yet she was the hero of the city. From the moment the Snow Queen showed up, everyone had dumped all this responsibility in her arms and they just expected her to take Metro Man's place, even though she clearly wasn't indestructible. It had been easy to brush off her safety when she was simply a nameless face, a symbol that could be propped up like a sacrifice. But now she wasn't faceless, she was Elsa. She was the girl he had known since they were in preschool. She was the girl who shared his love of reading and art when they were children and the outcasts of their class. She was the girl with the sweetest smile when you got to know her and an inability to break any rule.

She was his childhood friend and she was almost killed that night. And if she continued doing this stuff by herself, she would be killed.

The thought of it brought up memories from the night before. The echo of a gunshot, the trickling of dark red blood down her side. Thinking about it made Hiccup's stomach curl uncomfortably.

Wishing to focus on something other than Elsa, he looked forward and saw that he was headed for the beach. He had forgotten how close the manor was to the seaside. At this time of the year, with a heavy dusting of snow on the ground, it was deserted and silent aside from the rolling of waves. It was an oddly peaceful feeling, walking by the pier and watching the gray waters. It almost calmed the storm in his mind. Almost. But it was definitely better than walking down the filthy city streets.

He slowly walked down the white beach with a solemn expression, barely paying any mind to his surroundings. That was until he saw a single spot of black within the endless shroud of white snow. Curiously, he treaded forward to see what the shadow in the sand was. It was small, and the closer he got the more details he could make out. He could see pointed ears and a long ragged tail draped over an angular face. It was a small black cat, drenched in water and sprawled out on its side.

Hiccup wandered closer, his heartbeat speeding up when he thought that the creature might be dead. It was limp in the snow, but when Hiccup got close enough, he could see a steady rise and fall of the cat's ribcage. Seeing the sign of life calmed his nerves and he let out a low sigh of relief. The sound caused the cat to flinch and a pair of bright green eyes snapped open and stared him down.

Hiccup straightened when his own green eyes met with the dark slits. The cat didn't move as Hiccup stared down at him. It didn't try to scurry away or hiss like he thought it might. It just lay their silently, staring up at him with something akin to fear in his wide eyes.

Hiccup isn't sure what drew him to bend down at reach out for the cat, but he ended up running his hand down the coarse fur of the feline's side. It flinched slightly at the touch but soon relaxed at the warmth that flooded from his palm. The cats fur was soaked and freezing and Hiccup felt a stab of sympathy when he saw the cat shivering in the snow. With nervous and shaking arms, Hiccup picked the cat up as it shifted away from him in protest. He noticed a small pool of blood from the spot where he lifted up the creature and saw the dark red liquid dripping from the end of its tail. Now that he looked closer at it, he could see that it looked like the tip had been chopped off by a knife or something of the sort. He couldn't imagine who would want to do something like that to a tiny cat and then just leave it to die on the beach. The thought of some jerk being so heartless made him puff up in determination and solidified his decision. He scooped the cat up so he was draped on his shoulder and started walking in the direction of his apartment. The cat could only squirmed weakly as he carried him away from the beach. But eventually he calmed and sunk further into his shoulder, too tired and too cold to fight anymore.

**~Elsa~**

Anna snuck into her bedroom late that night, a gentle smile on her face and her eyes dry of tears. Elsa had felt horrible for making her sister so upset and worried the night before. She couldn't imagine going through something like that, thinking Anna was gone and there was nothing she could do. Elsa couldn't do anything but stand from her bed and envelope her baby sister in a tight hug, burying her face in her shoulder.

Anna laughed in response to the sudden show of affection. "Hey," she giggled as she wriggled out of the hug. "You feeling alright?"

Elsa sighed loudly and slumped back onto her mattress. "I'm so sorry Anna," she mumbled. "Kai is mad at you too and it's all my fault. I should have been more careful."

Anna scoffed at the statement and rolled her eyes. "You can't seriously be blaming yourself for someone else shooting at you."

"Yeah, but I was careless Anna," Elsa argued. She looked to the ground hesitantly, unsure if it would be wise to tell her sister the full story of what happened last night. "I didn't want to tell you this, but I almost died last night. I could actually feel my life draining from my veins as I lay bleeding out in an alley. It was terrifying and... God Anna, I'm in way over my head."

Elsa felt the mattress shift from the weight of someone beside her. Anna leaned over to look at her in concern. "How did you survive?" she asked, her voice shaking with worry. "Are you alright?"

Elsa lifted up the hem of her shirt to show her sister the area where she had been shot. The skin was clean and unmarked.

"Something weird happened," Elsa stated as she ran her fingers across the path of smooth skin along her stomach. "Remember how I saved that guy from those thugs a few days ago."

Anna nodded silently, quirking a questioning eyebrow.

"He found me after I passed out and took me to his girlfriend," she explained, her voice soft. "At least I think she was his girlfriend. And she managed to...fix me."

"She healed you?" Anna asked, her eyes blown wide with astonishment. "How?"

Elsa hesitated on answering, unsure if she should share Rapunzel's secret. But if anyone was going to be understanding and keep the secret, it would be Anna.

"She’s an unnatural," Elsa answered slowly. She watched with slight amusement as Anna's eyes immediately lit up at the statement. "But with way different powers than mine. She has magic hair that can heal and glow when she sings."

Anna's face fell into a look of bewilderment. "Really?" she asked in disbelief. When Elsa nodded, Anna took her hands excitedly while bouncing in her seat. "That's fantastic. Do you know what this means? You don't have to do this alone."

Elsa, taken back by her sister's new excitement, looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"With another superhero out there, you'll be able to save the day together," Anna declared, standing from the bed and looking off into the distance dramatically with her hands on her hips. "Plus she has healing powers so if you get hurt, you'll be okay."

Elsa shook her head in denial. "I couldn't drag someone else into this. It's my mess now, and I need to take care of it," she whispered, looking to the ground with her face full of guilt. "I already feel horrible for dumping all this stress on your shoulders. I wouldn't dream of putting something like this on anyone else."

Anna gave her a look of annoyance and stared her down. "Don't try to do this by yourself Elsa," she ordered, her voice stern like that of a mother. "You have to accept help from other people, or else this whole thing is going to be impossible."

Elsa sighed in defeat, knowing she wasn't going to win this argument. After tonight Anna was going to be incredibly concerned with her safety and she definitely wasn't going to take this superhero business lightly. Elsa wouldn't say it out loud, but she was extremely touched by the caring gesture from her sister.

"And you shouldn't be so hard on yourself," Anna continued, her voice was more gentle and reassuring as she sat down beside Elsa again. "Look how much you've accomplished since you started. You locked Megamind behind bars, you saved a bunch of people's lives, and you even got a better grasp on how to control your powers. And that was just within the last week."

Elsa smiled softly at the thought. She had never really known how to take back the things she created with her powers. But now she had a much better grasp on how to control it with the practice she had been getting for the past week. If anything good came out of these adventures, it would definitely be the new bought of confidence she had when it came to using her ice.

"You're right," Elsa admitted, leaning heavily on her sister's shoulder in an effort to annoy her. Anna toppled to the side with a giggle. "As always, you little know it all."

Elsa flopped over onto her sister so she was shoved into the mattress. Anna giggled hysterically as she pushed her away to stop her from crushing her. She poked Elsa in the side, causing the older sister to shriek in surprise.

"Who knows," Anna said with a wide grin. "Maybe we can create some sort of super team. Like the Avengers, but better. You with your ice powers and that other girl with her magic hair, I'll be there as moral support, or maybe I could be the behind the scenes leader. Oh! And Hiccup can be on the team too, now that he knows your secret."

Elsa's bemused expression switched to horrified in the blink of an eye. "Oh no," she said, shooting the idea down. "There is no way Hiccup is going to be a part of this. I can't let my friends get hurt because of me. This is way too dangerous for you and for them. If you ever got hurt out there I would never forgive myself. Hiccup almost got killed last night because of me, and now that he knows everything he might be in even more danger."

"More danger?"

"Yes!" Elsa exclaimed, throwing her hands up for effect. "I've got the whole secret identity thing and you just know that the people closest to me are going to be targeted. No. I can't involve him or anyone else. Besides, after finding out my secret, he probably doesn't want to even be around me anymore."

"He's your friend Elsa," Anna argued. "You two have known each other since preschool. You really think he would abandon you, especially after he just spent the whole night searching for you."

Elsa's eyes were trained on the floor as she thought back to the look of relief on Hiccup's face when he saw her alive. The way he looked at her with such concern and confusion when he first addressed her as the Snow Queen. There wasn't any trace of fear or hatred in his eyes. But she wouldn't allow herself to hope, she had been preparing for the loss of her friends when they discovered her secret ever since she was young. She knew that the rejection was coming and inevitable.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," she said after a long silence, her voice was dead and she felt incredibly disheartened by everything.

"Yeesh," Anna sighed as she dropped onto the mattress. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Sorry for not feeling too light after my near death experience."

Anna sat up from her spot, giving Elsa a gentle smile before standing up and making her way to the TV. She flicked on the power switch before wandering back to the bed and plopping herself down again.

"Let's try to unwind," she suggested. "Focus on something other than the Snow Queen. The whole point of having a secret identity is so you can take a break from being a hero."

When the screen lit up them they were welcomed with the sight of the local news reporter speaking rapidly into her microphone.

"The police are not sharing any more details at this hour, but it is being assumed that Megamind is planning another attack on the city and people should be cautious when on the streets," the woman said, her sharp blue eyes staring down the camera lens with such intensity that Elsa could swear she felt the burn. "Now everyone is asking, where is the Snow Queen, and how will she deal with Megamind's most recent escape from prison?"

The blonde's eyes bulged as she stared at the TV screen, her mouth hanging open in shock. Both her and Anna were as still as statues and neither dared to move or even say a word as the news report continued in front of them.

"Oh no," Elsa whispered.


	10. Family and Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. They are the real heroes, and so are the families and friends who have stood by them."
> 
> Christopher Reeve
> 
> "A slayer with family and friends. That sure as hell wasn't in the brochure."
> 
> Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

**~Anna~**

Elsa paced the length of her room, her eyes wide and bloodshot since she didn't have the nerve to so much as blink at this point. The TV was still on and Anna kept flipping through the news channels to see if there was any new information on Megamind or where he was. So far she wasn't having any luck with it. That didn't help with Elsa's panic in the slightest.

"Oh god," she whispered it herself for the sixteenth time. "What do I do? How am I supposed to react to this?"

"He did do this all the time back when Metro Man was alive," Anna stated, trying to souls cool and collected with her words. "There has to be a hiding place for him, somewhere he goes to build all those doomsday machines."

Elsa shook her head as she turned to pace the other way. "But how can we find it?" she whispered. "He's a super genius, there is no way that he's going to make it easy for us to find him. Oh God Anna, I don't think I can stand much more of this."

They had spent most of the last night freaking out after they had heard of Megamind's breakout from prison. Now after a full night and day of high stress and little bouts of sleep in between for the two girls, it was almost night again and they were still no closer to solving the problem.

Kai hadn't returned to the room since earlier that morning when he had entered Elsa's room to bring them breakfast. Anna had scrambled to switch the tv to some awful rom com and the two sisters played it off that they were simply watching movies to pass the time while they were grounded. He didn't give any indication that he saw what was happening on the news, but it was more than likely he was trying to withhold that information so Elsa wouldn't try to go find their resident super villain. After he left, Anna couldn't help but pass out from exhaustion and stress. When she woke up, it was already late evening and her sister had passed out at her side on the bed. Anna had touched her lightly in order to wake her, causing her older sister to rouse with wide eyes. She got up in alarm, fearful that she had missed something in the time she had spent sleeping. She started pacing the room and demanded Anna to surf the TV stations for a sign of Megamind's whereabouts. They had been like that for about twenty minutes.

Anna was a bit more calm now that she had gotten a few winks of sleep. She was still pretty worried about what could happen in the next couple hours, but she felt a little better now that she was well rested. Maybe now the two of them would have better luck coming up with a lot plan now that they weren't suffering from a night without sleep. She tried to keep spirits high in the room so her sister wouldn't create a grove in the floor from her continuous pacing.

"Maybe he won't even attack for awhile," Anna said, allowing a bit of hope into her voice. "We'll probably have enough time to come up with some sort of plan."

Just as she finished her claim, the TV station she was on immediately became fuzzy from a signal interruption. The sisters winced as a sharp dial tone sound filtered across the room and the television screen flipped to a picture of the lunatic in question.

The blue skinned man was decked out in a black leather outfit adorned with spikes and blue lightning designs along with a flourished black cape. He grinned at the camera with a sinister gleam in his eyes as he stood in the remnants of the abandoned observatory. The location of Metro Man's death.

The area around him was mostly bare save for two people. Behind him stood the mutant fish in a robotic gorilla suit that was commonly referred to as Minion by Megamind and the general public. Anna wondered in the back of her mind if that kind of thing would be considered an odd sight in another world. Insinius was pretty accustomed to it. On the other side of the villain was one of the more famous female reporters in the city, Roxanne Ritchi. She was commonly kidnapped by Megamind since she and Metro Man were an item or whatever. She had a somewhat bored expression on her face even though she was heavily chained to a chair that was currently being watched over by a giant creepy spiderbot.

Megamind cleared his throat and fluffed his cape for effect before beginning. "People of Insignias, I honestly have no interest in all of you sheep. All but one. I speak directly to the Snow Queen now. Snow Queen, you've had quite the start up career. The city adores you and you've won all your battles. But don't get too comfortable. It's about time you faced a real challenge. Roxanne Ritchi is at my mercy and if you do not surrender yourself to me within the next 4 hours, this will be the last you ever see of her. In case you couldn't tell, I'm waiting for you at the top of the abandoned observatory. The countdown starts now. I await your arrival."

With that said the broadcast switched back to a fuzzy screen and then to the original program.

Elsa glanced over at Anna with a deadpan expression. "You just had to say something."

Anna watched in stunned silence as Elsa walked over to the window with a heavy sigh. She seemed less freaked out now and more exasperated. She opened up the window and looked down at the ground below. Even Anna knew it was a deadly drop.

"You're going to confront him?" she exclaimed in shock. "But Elsa, that's the place where he killed Metroman. If that death ray is still working, that means this might be a big trap."

"I'm not allergic to copper," Elsa stated as she climbed onto the window sill. "I'll be able to get away on time, probably."

Elsa's feet dangled over the edge as she glared down at the distance between her and the ground. Anna watched with wide curious eyes as Elsa pushed her hand forward and a blast of ice fired from her outstretched palm. The ice curled and spiralled through the air below her sisters feet. A long platform spread from below the window sill and extended down to the ground. It looked like a giant slide down to the estate gardens.

Elsa turned back to her with a deadly serious gaze. "You have to make sure Kai doesn't know I'm gone, at least for as long as possible."

On a sudden instinct, Anna reached out to grasp Elsa's hand. Her skin was almost painfully cold against the warmth of Anna's blood, but she squeezed it tightly and stared at her sister with shiny green eyes. Elsa looked back with a bewildered expression and Anna wanted to shake her out of her cluelessness.

"Please come home," she whispered, the fear and worry from the night before flooded into her heart. "I don't want to lose you."

She managed to stop herself from saying 'too'.

Elsa offered a tentative smile, but that did nothing to calm her nerves. With a soft cry, Anna launched herself at the young hero, nearly knocking her out of the window. She wrapped her arms tightly around her shoulders and held her as close as she could. She didn't know if it would be her last time.

"I'll come home," Elsa answered, her voice gentle but assertive. "I promise. I love you."

With that she slips out of the embrace like air and slides down the ice to the ground. Anna watched as she runs off to save the day, her muscles tensed and her heart aching.

**~Roxanne~**

Life in Insinius had been simple when Metro Man was alive. It must have been about seventeen years ago when Megamind made his debute as Insinius' resident super villain and Metro Man appeared as the big superhero that was out to stop him. It was quite the sight to behold, especially considering the circumstances at the time.

Life in the city before that hadn't exactly been ideal. There had been underground deals and organized crime, and even though there plenty who were aware of it, nothing had ever been done about it. There had been conspiracies that parts of the police department were dirty and that politicians were making deals with crime lords, but it was only ever whispered in the darkest of corners.

But then when Megamind showed up, he was loud and big and in bright bold print. He wasn't the slow infectious crawl of disease, he was an explosion of color that distracted the entire city. Metro Man was a beacon that seemed to lead the people away from the dark horrible world they had been living in. Their world was big grand battles between evil villains bent on world domination and heroes that swooped in to save the day. The fears of the past were forgotten as crime lords and corrupt men of power alike crept away like insects under the watch of the unstoppable force of Insinius's hero

Life in the city after Metro Man's death was when the rug was pulled out from underneath them. The underground and organized crime crawled out from the dark corners and the citizens were forced to realize that it had never really left and had instead unified and built themselves up while they had been hiding away. Things slowly went back to the way they used to be. Only this time it seemed so much worse than it was before. Now with Metro Man gone, everyone realized how truly helpless they all were. And that caused a whole new layer of fear. To add insult to injury Megamind had ruled over them with an iron fist and did what he wanted when he wanted without opposition.

The Snow Queen's appearance had stirred hope and a certain desperation among the people. They were quick to call this masked crusader a saviour in a vain attempt to force things back to the way they used to be.

Roxanne knew things would never be that way again. She wasn't that naive. The sickness that spread underneath the streets couldn't be ignored anymore.

She would be lying if she said she hadn't expected this kidnapping to happen. She knew as soon as Megamind broke out of prison that she was gonna get kidnapped again. It was part of the routine, which was apparently going to continue. So she wasn't that surprised when she was knocked unconscious with a can of knock out spray or whatever it was. Nor was she shocked when she woke up in chains in front of Magamind's grinning big blue face. He was clearly a bit miffed by her lack of a response.

In older circumstances, she would have engaged in some snarky banter with the super villain as she calmly waited for Metro Man's appearance. But since the former hero was brutally murdered by her kidnapper, she couldn't see herself doing either of those things.

She and Metro Man hadn't exactly been dating like the public had believed, but they had been friends for a good length of time. And after seeing his skeleton after being blown up by an insane self proclaimed super villain, along with watching said villain laugh over the corpse, she could only look at Megamind with disdain. After years of routine kidnappings and empty death threats, she had assumed she had Megamind pegged as an evil wannabe who was a showman and a genius, but not truly harmful. But now that she had seen how much damage he could do, and how spineless and powerless a majority of this city was when they didn't have Metro Man to hide behind, she realized how wrong she was.

Megamind was dangerous, and with the Snow Queen being mortal and not nearly as powerful as Metro Man, she was in grave danger if she did end meeting the psycho's demands.

No, she wasn't surprised in the slightest. She was fearful, though she refused to show it, fearful for herself as well as the Snow Queen. But she was also angry and had no problems showing that.

"You're pathetic, you know," Roxanne hissed as Megamind impatiently paced back and forth on the death site of his former enemy. He stopped in his tracks and looked over at her with a quizzical expression. "You just can't leave this city alone, even after all the hurt and damage that you've caused. Are you so desperate for attention that you'll just keep wreaking everything in order to get a reaction? You murdered your arch enemy and now you’re lowering yourself to kill a young girl along with him. Just to take even more from this city."

"I would stop referring to yourself as a young girl at this point Miss Richi," Megamind snipped back, turning away from her to continue scouting for the Snow Queen. "You're well beyond that stage."

Roxanne couldn't help the snarl that made its way to her lips. "I'm not talking about me," she growled, barely suppressing her rage. "I'm talking about the girl you just summoned here."

Megamind scoffed at that. "She's not a child. She's perfectly capable of protecting herself. My Annihilator can attest to that." He sauntered over to her, allowing his cape to flutter in the wind behind him. "Besides, who said I was planning to kill her."

Now it was Roxanne's turn to scoff. "You never have a plan beyond destroying the hero," she said. "That's how you do things. What else could you possibly want to summon her here for."

A grin spread across his face as he looked into the distance. "It's a test Miss Richi," he revealed, dramatically motioning to the setting sun on the horizon of the ocean. "To see if the Snow Queen is a worthy adversary. If she passes the test, then I may start attempting to kill her."

Minion's head popped out from behind the giant spider bot that still loomed above Roxanne. He looked at his master with a look of concern. "We're going to kill her?" Minion asked, his eyes alight with worry. "But sir, she seems like a step down from Metro Man. Didn't you once say you would never engage in battle with a b-list hero."

A throaty chuckle came from the blue skinned man as he looked back at Minion with a bemused expression. "Minion, Minion, Minion," he sighed. "There is only one true rule to being evil, that is creating misery and crushing good, no matter what it's form might be. Plus this test should prove how formyd-able she will be."

Roxanne clenched her muscles and tried to struggle against the chains that were wrapped tightly around her middle. But of course they didn't budge. He was too smart to give her any room to break free. All she could really do to fight against him was to keep on insulting him and hope that she strikes a nerve. This situation of being constantly chained up and having your life threatened by the same guy got real old real fast.

"She seemed to do fine at kicking your butt last time," Roxanne stated with a slight smirk. "Also it's pronounced formidable."

"Pfft, she was just lucky that time," Megamind waved her off. "This time I know she's coming. I've studied her abilities and I have found the perfect way to test her. Buahahahahahahah!"

His signature evil laughter made Roxanne roll her eyes in annoyance.

"Ah this is rejuvenating," he sighed to himself. "Didn't you miss this. Plotting against a hero, waiting for them to step into your newest trap."

"It is kind of exciting sir," Minion added in. "I can't remember the last time we used the spider bot."

"You both missed getting your butts kicked?" Roxanne asked dryly.

Megamind stared at her for a split second before shaking his head in denial. "No! I mean, I wasn't getting my butt kicked. I was locked in an epic battle of good and evil. Fantastic intellect against extraordinary powers. A war that was fated never to end until one of us was dead."

Minion let out a noise of surprise catching the attention of the reporter and the super villain, stopping Megamind from continuing his speach.

They all whipped around to face the direction that Minion was looking. A girl stood on the edge of the partially demolished structure, her white cape waving in the wind.

"This isn't going to be a regular thing is it?" the girl asked, her tone horribly casual as she walked forward. "Cause I won't really have the time to do the whole 'locked in epic battle' thing when school starts again."

The fact that the girl just used air quotes and mentioned school was enough to tip one off that she wasn't an adult yet. Roxanne shot Megamind a judgmental look. "She's still in school you psycho," she stated. "You know what that makes her? A kid."

"That could also mean she's in university," Megamind shot back in a stage whisper, he turned back to the Snow Queen, replacing his look of annoyance with a sinister grin. "Chool is a useless ancient tool of assimilation and brainwashing. A short battle with a criminal mastermind such as myself will flesh out your mind more fully than a year of sitting in some chool house. And I gather, since you decided to accept my challenge, that you're searching for something much greater than the dull life of the average citizen."

Roxanne watched the girl cross her arms and stare Megamind with a dry bored expression on her face.

"For no one can resist the thrall of such endangerment, the promise of rising with gleaming victory or falling in bloody glory- Ak!"

Ice pierced the air next to his head and shot right passed him. His eyes were as wide as saucers.

"You missed," he said, his voice calmer than expected.

"It was a warning shot," the girl stated. "Can we keep these monologues brief? I'm starting to pass out from boredom."

A low chuckle erupted from the back of his throat, but there was something in its sound that made it seem much more dangerous than his usual laugh.

"You should be more patient young lady," he gloated, motioning to the Minion with a slight wave of his hand. The alien fish immediately started fiddling with a dinky remote in his hand. "When you skip ahead to the ending, you may not be ready for the real danger that's to come."

He ended his statement with a dramatic flourish to the space beside him. Roxanne wasn't surprised that there was only dead air.

Megamind looked at the space beside him and shot a look at Minion.

"Where is it?" he growled through clenched teeth.

"Um, on its way," Minion replied with a nervous jitter. "I think."

He kept pressing the button on the remote as his master groaned in irritation. The super villain marched up to him with a massive frown, that almost made Roxanne want to laugh. However she was a bit too distracted with the spirals of frost crawling up her chains and working its way into the lock that held her in place. The Snow Queen was keeping eye contact with Megamind but Roxanne could still see the slight flex of her fingers.

"I should've expected this to happen when I let you handle the remote. Whenever you handle my inventions, they end up malfunctioning,"

"Maybe it's just cause your inventions are unstable."

"What was that?! I'll have you know that it's extremely difficult to create the high scale weapons with my lack of materials."

The chains slid loose around her torso as the lock that held them together fell to the ground with a thump. She watched in stunned silence as a shard of ice launched over her head. The spider bot skittered in place before it was pierced in its centre. A loud crash echoed to the sky, attracting the attention of the bickering villain and henchman.

Megamind looked at his spiderbot with an expression of loss and shock and looked up at the heroine. The Snow Queen stared back at him, eyes narrowed in determination. He swiped the remote from Minion's hands and pressed a button.

Before Roxanne could even blink something large barrelled towards the platform. There was a loud clash and a cry of pain. The Snow Queen was sent hurtling off to the side when the metal object smashed into her. Her body was covered by her white cape.

Roxanne stood up to get a better view and see if the girl was hurt. When the young girl slowly stood from the ground, she turned to face Megamind with a livid expression.

Her hands were incased in a metal chamber.

The heaviness of the mechanism forced her to slump over slightly, and with her hands trapped she could no longer form ice.

Her state of defeat only made Megamind giggle uncontrollably.

"It's an insulated container," he bragged as her walked towards her, a smug expression on his face. "You're ice can't escape no matter what you try. It's made of the thickest and strongest steal one can find, impossible for you to break on your own."

He was inches away from her now, towering over her slouched form with a look triumph. She glared up at him.

"Now we'll see wh-Umf!" The container was slammed up into his face, knocking him to the ground. His head slapped painfully against the pavement. At least it looked pretty painful. "Ow! My giant blue head!"

"Strongest steel huh?" The Snow Queen asked breathless, her hands dropped with the weight.

She turned to Roxanne with a look of urgency.

"We've got to go!" she yelled, snapping the reporter out of her daze. She looked for the nearest exit, but with this place partially destroyed, it would be impossible to get down safely.

The Snow Queen ran to the edge of the observatory platform and slammed her foot down on the pavement. A trail of ice burst from beneath her foot and formed a sleek slide all the way down to the road.

Roxanne gawked at the icy slope. "Is that safe?"

The Snow Queen shrugged, her expression uneasy and anxious. "Probably."

It was defiantly different from the standard Metro Man rescue, but it was better than either of them being incinerated.

Roxanne cautiously sat on the edge of the slide. Taking a deep breath she pushed herself down the slide. A thrill shot up her spine and her breath caught in her throat. Her stomach rose up to her stomach as she dropped at lightning speed. Luckily she landed in a snowdrift at the bottom with a thump. The Snow Queen slid down behind her, flopping into the snow pile beside her.

"Wow," Roxanne whispered in awe. "That was actually pretty fun."

The Snow Queen struggled against the contraption that locked up her hands. She growled in frustration as she started slamming it against the wall and the ice.

"This might be a bad time," Roxanne started awkwardly. "But do you mind if I get a quick interview?"

The girl shot her a look of shock.

"Just thought I'd ask."

The Snow Queen sighed and looked up at the platform above her.

"Find somewhere safe," she ordered. "I need to get this thing off."

Without another word the girl ran off, her quick legs taking her down the road and towards the city.

She definitely wasn't a talkative one.

**~Hiccup~**

The sound of metal tapping on glass caused his head to snap up in alarm. Hiccup looked to his bedroom window and his mouth dropped open when he caught sight of the familiar face on the other side.

"Jesus Elsa," he whispered as he opened up the window, allowing his friend to clumsily crawl through. "Did you go to confront Megamind?"

Her state of being and the weird container that trapped her hands answered his question. Plus the look of 'no duh' that she gave him.

He looked out the window to make sure none of Megamind's brain bots had followed her. If the house was destroyed while his dad was gone, he was a dead man. Having a best friend that was a superhero really put him in a strange position.

"I'm really sorry about this, but I need your help," Elsa stated, holding up her locked hands. "You got anything in your dads wreck room that can get this off?"

He stared at the alien technology, his eyes widening with curiosity. He had to admit, Megamind's creations were strange but incredibly well designed.

"I think I might be able to do something," he answered with a small smile. He lead her out of his room and down the stairs to his dad's wood shop room. His dad was a big fan of cutting wood and hitting things with a hammer. So it wasn't ever shocking that he turned the entire basement into a place for his workshop.

He sat Elsa down at his dad's saw table and she plopped the container up on the metal surface with a clang.

"He wasn't lying when he said it was insulated," Elsa commented. "I've been icing the inside of this thing forever."

Hiccup looked over the metal chamber, his green eyes alight with awe. "What is this made out of?"

Elsa shrugged. "He said it was some sort of ultra steel."

Hiccup nodded as he felt over the texture of the metal looking for a way to take it apart. His fingers traced a screw head making him grin in triumph. He stood up quickly and hurried over to his dad's tool box, nearly tripping over a cat on his way there.

He stumbled slightly and growled to himself. "Toothless, would you stop that!"

This cat was making an annoying habit of running underneath his feet when ever he went to walk somewhere. The cat never made a sound either, it didn't meow or purr, it simply rubbed against his legs in order to get his attention.

"When did you get a cat?" Elsa asked curiously from behind him. He looked back at her to find Toothless batting lightly at her leg. She smiled at the cat and would have reached down to pet him if her arms weren't locked in a metal prison.

"Oh, I found him on the beach," Hiccup explained sheepishly as he brought over the screw driver. "I think he was abused by his previous owners or something. The tip of his tail was chopped off. And one of his teeth is chipped"

He had bandaged up the cat's bleeding tail and aloud the creature to roam free in his basement. When he noticed the cat's chipped tooth, he started referring to the cat as Toothless. All those movies were right, once you name something you start to get attached to it. Now he didn't want to give the little guy up.

"So are you going to keep it?" Elsa asked. Hiccup sat beside her silently. He didn't even know what he was going to do. He wasn't sure if his dad would let him keep a stray. But he was sure things would work themselves out eventually. There was nothing wrong with keeping a cat if he was the one taking care of it.

"What's its name?" Elsa asked, her eyes alight with curiosity.

Hiccup smiled and sheepishly offered up the answer. "Toothless."

The blonde beside him let out the softest of laughter at hearing the name. Despite him discovering the fact that she had powers now, Elsa was still the same girl she had always been. He was glad that even though she was nervous about the reveal of her secret identity, she was still able to trust him.

Hiccup started getting to work and used the screwdriver to remove the head. The chamber was pretty well made, but once he took all the drill bits out, it became easy to pry the container open and free Elsa's hands.

She let out a cry of relief when she ripped her hands away from their prison. "Oh yes! Thank you Hiccup," she sighed. Elsa was quick to jump up from her seat. "I've got to go fight Megamind. That guy is going down!"

Before she could take a step, Hiccup took hold of her arm and stopped her from leaving.

"You can't go back out to confront him," Hiccup fretted. "Megamind could have hundreds of those things. Do you really want to go back there and then have your hands trapped again?"

Elsa stared at him for a moment, and he could practically see the cogs turning in her head as she thought over what he said. She seemed to be struggling with getting the right words out.

"Well then what am I supposed to do?" she sighed in defeat. "I can't just let him run amuck in the city."

Hiccup shrugged before picking up the remnants of the compartment that had trapped Elsa's hands. He examined the metal closely and smiled to himself.

"You know Els, I bet your ice could pierce this thing," Hiccup muttered. "If you make the metal brittle enough by cooling it down, you could probably break it."

"Without my hands?"

"Well are you able to make things cold without your hands?" He asked cautiously. He didn't really know the extent of her powers. "Maybe you can use your feet or maybe your elbows or something."

She gave him a skeptical look. "Um, maybe. I'm not sure."

He put the container back down on the table and took a few steps away from it. "Try it out. Put your hands behind your back and try to break the metal."

Elsa nodded before doing what he said. She walked over to the table and stared down at the contraption, silently debating on how to start. She seemed to make up her mind as she bent down and brought her face close to the metal. Her lips pursed and a flurry of snowflakes were blown from her mouth and floated down. Her breath curled around the container like a winter chill. A thick layer of frost formed around it, freezing the outside and making it brittle and breakable.

Elsa glanced at Hiccup, and he hoped he was giving her and encouraging look. He couldn't really tell what his face looked like since his mind was numb from the shock of what he had just seen. She picked up the container and before he could even blink, she stomped her foot down and an enormous spear of ice shot up from the ground and impaled the metal, ripping straight through it like it was nothing.

"Damn." Was all Hiccup could say.

Elsa however laughed in triumph. "I didn't even know I could do that!" she yelled in excitement. The loudness of her voice sent Toothless skittering off to a far corner. "So you think I'm ready now Hiccup?"

Hiccup grinned at her and shoved her arm playfully. "After what I just saw, I think you're ready for anything."

Elsa was positively glowing at that statement and she immediately jumped at Hiccup and wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug. He immediately noticed how cold her hands were.

"You are the best!" she said with a laugh. "I'm glad I have you in all this."

Before he could even think to hug her back she released him, taking a few deliberate steps away. Her soft smile was still in place but he could see the ice on her palms. Understanding came to him and he gave her and comforting smile. "Don't worry Els, you can always count on me."

The warmth in her smile could have melted the big spike of ice on the floor. "Thank you," she whispered, a slight break in her voice. "Merry Christmas. Oh and tip your dad off that Megamind is going to be incapacitated pretty soon."

With that said she was off in a flash, ready to save the day and risk her life all over again.

**~Megamind~**

Roxanne had gotten away before he could stop her, which was frustrating but not a complete disaster. His plan was practically complete now anyway. All he really needed to do was to see how his new enemy adapted to his test. Which was taking a lot longer than expected. After their first battle, he had been hoping for a quicker response.

"Maybe she couldn't get it off," Minion suggested as they continued to wait for her return, a group of brain bots at their back.

Megamind sighed dramatically and leaned heavily against the remnants of the copper wall. "I was really hoping she would be the one," he moaned. "A worthy opponent to continue the epic battle of good and evil."

"Would you really want that?" Minion wondered aloud. "She's just a rookie hero. Besides, why would you even want a new enemy after you took over the city?"

"I need someone to fight Minion," he ranted. "I need a hero or I'm not complete. Without good to try and stop me, I have no purpose."

"I suppose I'll just have to go back to comiting empty acts of villainy and waiting for the next hero to show themselves," he continued with a heaviness in his voice. "I guess I'll go take over the city again."

While he lifted himself into a standing position, a youthful voice filtered into his ears.

"Getting a little ahead of yourself aren't you?" the blonde behind him asked with a smirk on her lips and her arms free. "You didn't even say goodbye."

A grin split his face and his heart hammered with excitement. She had returned like he had hoped she would.

"So you passed the test," he commented slyly. There was a spring in his step as he walked towards her. "But I had hoped you could have done it faster."

She crossed her arms and smirked back at him, like she knew something he didn't know. It was aggravating yet electrifying.

"Sorry to disappoint," she replied with a carefree shrug. "I was just a little stunned when I found out how easy it was to break out."

Megamind rose an eyebrow at the girl. "Easy?"

With the remote in his hand he pressed the button and this time it acted without a hitch. The full handcuffs trapped her hands in an insulated hold and they dropped with the heaviness of the steal.

She didn't look nearly as shocked or livid as she had been the first time. In fact she looked kind of bored.

"You're really trying this again?" The Snow Queen asked in a tired tone of voice.

"Let's see how easily you can escape without an a way off of the platform," Megamind announced, followed by his usual evil laughter.

The Snow Queen didn't even blink as a swarm of brain bots surrounded her threateningly on all sides. Strangely enough she lifted the container up to her lips and puffs of frost escaped her mouth and wrapped around the steel.

"I didn't know she could do that," Megamind whispered to Minion who shrugged in response.

"Quick trivia question," Elsa shouted once the steel chamber was frozen. "What sunk the Titanic?"

She lifted her foot up before Megamind could even comprehend what she said and slammed it into the ground. A spike of ice rose pierced through the air and the handcuffs. The remainder of the steel fell from her hands to the floor with a crash.

Minion and Megamind stared at the wreckage in stunned silence. This girl was certainly a stronger adversary then he had given her credit for.

He watched the girl in front of him cross her again free arms. She shot him a smug smile and rose a sculpted eyebrow in anticipation. The look on her face would have enraged him if he hadn't been so giddy at the prospect of having a worthy hero to fight once again.

The sounds of police sirens filled the air and the Snow Queen's smile turned into a full out grin.

"Looks like the fun has arrived," she gloated. She shot a blast of ice at the super villain, who's hands were now trapped in and ice box.

"Ack!" he screamed as he dropped to the floor with the heaviness of the ice. "Oh that's really cold."

"No worries," she reassured him as she flicked a few shards of ice at the brain bots blocking the path to her self made exit. "The police will be able to help you out of that, probably."

She hopped up onto the slide but before she went down she offered him one last snarky comment.

"By the way, the answer was an ice berg."

 


	11. Unveiled Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What was silent in the father speaks in the son, and often I found in the son the unveiled secret of the father."
> 
> Friedrich Nietzsche

**~Elsa~**

It was dark when Elsa got back home and she did her best to sneak over the fence undetected. The tricky part was getting back inside the house. Anna hadn't left the window open due to the winter chill and she had dissipated her bridge of ice when she left so she couldn't easily get up there.

So her only real way in was to sneak through the and hope to God Kai didn't notice her.

Elsa crept to the back of the mansion that led to the conservatory, her feet crunching on the snow beneath her. In the winter, the sun room would be shut up and abandoned, but it was still the easiest way for her to get inside without getting caught. She had melted her ice bridge on the way out, so she was reduced to sneaking through the back like a teen that had snuck out to a party. It must be nice to be one of the kids that sneaks out to parties instead of the one that sneaks out in a skin tight outfit to bust criminals.

Thankfully the conservatory had a coded lock, like many of the outer doors of the mansion, so the staff that worked at the Arendelle estate could get in and out of the house easily. There weren't as many people working there anymore after the death of Elsa's mother and father, but everyone still found a coded lock much easier than giving out keys. Everyone besides Kai had gone home for the holidays and wouldn't be back until after Boxing Day, so she was pretty sure she wouldn't get caught sneaking in.

She opened the door as quietly as she could, hearing the hinges creek as she budged through. She closed the door and locked it behind her. The conservatory was dark and empty, the windows covered with a thick tarp so the winter cold couldn't seep through the glass. Elsa didn't dare turn on a light and accidentally alert Kai that she had left.

She quietly made her way through the closed off sun room and into the great room. It was dark in there too, which was lucky, or at least she thought it was. As soon as she started backing her way to the rear foyer so she could make it back to her room, there was a soft click that made her freeze in place. The table lamp to the side of the couch flashed with light and illuminated the entire room.

Elsa saw Kai sitting on the couch, his form stiff and his eyes narrowed. It was at that moment that Elsa realized she was still in her Snow Queen uniform. She had to wonder if he had just been waiting there with the knowledge that she would sneak back in through the conservatory.

"What part of 'you're grounded' did you not understand?" he said, his voice sharp with disappointment.

"How long have you been sitting there?" Elsa asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I went to your room right after Megamind's challenge was broadcasted," Kai stated coldly. "But you were already gone."

He paused and looked at her expectantly. Elsa wasn't sure what he wanted her to say exactly, though it was probably an apology or an explanation. The silence that passed between them was unbearable, but she kept it, because she couldn't think of anything she could say that wouldn't end in a fight.

"This has to stop Elsa," he said with an even and stern tone. "I don't know how you can keep being so careless after everything I've said."

Elsa bristled at the comment. "You think I'm doing this for fun," she defended herself, her temper making a rare appearance. "All I'm trying to do is make a difference and help people. Why can't you just support me?"

"Don't turn me into the villain," he warned her. "You know exactly what you're doing wrong. I'm not sure how I can get you to see straight, but until you see to reason you are going to be reprimanded for your actions."

Elsa crossed her arms and pursed her lips in annoyance. She didn't bother snapping a retort and making her situation any worse than it already was. Staying silent didn't really help with her predicament though.

"You're going to be cleaning the manor from top to bottom tomorrow with your sister as your punishment."

Elsa's jaw dropped at that. He couldn't have been serious. She practically shouted when she tried to fight back against his order. "Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! You're going to make me clean a mansion on Christmas Eve because I was out saving lives?" She paused to remember that he had mentioned Anna as well. "And what did Anna do anyway?"

"She tried to hide the fact that you were gone from me," he replied. "You're both in big trouble."

Elsa wanted to argue. She wanted to scream her protest until he finally saw things the way she did. She was finding a good outlet to channel her powers towards, making it a lot easier for her to contain them in public. She was helping people. Saving lives.

Honestly, what else was she supposed to do? She couldn't just let him kill innocent people in search of her. Whether Kai liked it or not, the city needed her, indefinitely now.

But she didn't voice any of this, no matter how her rage burned or how the ice prickled at her palms. Kai was upset with what she had done and she couldn't keep making him more and more angry.

So, instead of yelling at him, she nodded her head quietly and slunk off to her room. Kai didn't say anything as she walked past him, but she could hear him sigh heavily when she was skulking towards the steps.

After a long an strenuous day of fretting and fighting, her body was not taking the toll well. Her limbs ached with exhaustion and she could barely climb up the staircase to her room. When she finally made it to her room, she crashed onto her heavenly bed, not even bothering to change out of her costume. It was a good thing too, she might as well get a good night sleep before working her butt off the next day.

**~Anna~**

"I should probably give you this now," Anna said when she and Elsa made it to the basement to begin their cleaning. She held out the small velvet blue box in her hand and grinned. "Merry Christmas!"

Elsa looked down at the box and gingerly took it from her sister. She smiled softly ashram her hands over the outside of the box. Anna gave her a reassuring smile and nod to indicate that she could open it. The hinges creaked as the lid was lifted. Inside revealed a crystal snowflake clasped onto a pale blue ribbon. It was a choker necklace that Anna had seen in the window of a discount jewellery store a few days ago. It wasn't especially fancy, but it was Elsa's style and it pretty enough that Anna couldn't tear her eyes away.

"I was hopping you could wear it with your costume," Anna said with an anxious grin. She observed her sister's reaction on baited breath, seeing that she was still staring down at the necklace. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," Elsa whispered, looking back up at anna with a sparkling smile. Elsa walked forward to wrap her arms around Anna in a tight embrace. "I hope I get the chance t wear it as the Snow Queen."

Anna grinned and held her sister tighter. They separated after the long hug and looked around the basement they were meant to clean from top to bottom.

"I guess we should start with the storage room," Elsa said with a sigh. She placed the box down on the nearby counter of the wet bar and then started to get to work.

A cloud of dust swirled into her nose as she continued to sweep the floor of the basement storage room. Anna's loud sneeze almost knocked her off her feet, luckily she had been able to catch her balance.

"This could be worse," Anna commented as Elsa struggled to move the boxes of old China plates, decorations and furniture parts about the room. The mildew on the bottom of the boxes suggested that this room hadn't been cleaned in many years. "We could be doing this on Christmas Day."

Elsa hefted more boxes out of the way so Anna could get to the back corner of the storage room. She had tried organizing them into suitable stacks, but there were so many that no matter how they arranged they still got in the way. This was only the fourth room of the house that they had cleaned this morning and, Anna could tell that her sister was already tired and frustrated. Too frustrated to notice the dark metal sheen that was revealed when she moved yet another pile of boxes. Anna, however did notice.

After dropping her broom and shoving the boxes aside, Anna didn't waste anytime in showing what was hidden in the back corner of the storage room. A fireplace, built into the back of the wall, with odd swirls and designs engraved into the outside of the steel mantel. It was under four feet tall and a little over three feet wide. The fireplace itself was blocked off by a pair of steel metal doors, with no openings or ventilation.

Anna didn't even think they had a chimney for this fireplace. What was it doing down in the basement? Anna ran her fingers along the crack between the metal doors. She jammed her tiny fingers within the opening until she had just enough grip to pry it open. Her fingernails ached as she pulled with all her strength, but the door finally budged with a loud groan, a sound that made it seem like these doors hadn't been opened in many years.

As Anna shoved both the doors open, Elsa came up behind her to see what she was doing. When she saw the old fireplace, that she had no idea was even there, she was stunned into silence.

The inside of the fireplace was pitch black. Even the dim light of the storage room didn't reach it. Anna leaned in to the fireplace, squinting to see if there was anything inside. As she tilted further and further forward, her hand slid along the floor, until she reached an abrupt edge.

"Anna!" Elsa screamed as Anna suddenly fell forward into the wide open ash pit.

Anna would have tumbled head first into the hole of inky blackness, had her sister not grabbed the back of her shirt. Wide and frightened green eyes stared down at the hole, that took up the entire fireplace. Elsa pulled her back to the safety of the edge, and together they stared into the darkened pit.

Elsa dug out her cellphone from her pocket and shined the bright light of the screen into the hole. She was careful not to lean too far forward when she was looking inside. Anna was starting to think this wasn't even a fireplace. She could see the row rails on the wall bellow her. The rails led from the edge of the pit down to the bottom.

"It's a ladder," Elsa stated.

Neither of them moved for a moment, far too stunned by the hidden passage in their basement storage room. Something thrummed in Anna's chest when she looked down into the pit, something that caused a smile to twitch at her lips. The childish fantasies of wishing to find a secret passageway in the mansion were coming to the surface and making her look down at the foreboding pit with childlike glee.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Anna whispered to her sister, staring down at the bottom of the pit. It was difficult to see with only the light of the phone, but she could just make out the bottom.

"Yeah, probably," she replied.

Without anymore discussion, the two sisters scrambled down the ladder, curiosity and excitement fuelling their every movement.

The ladder led to a cold concrete cellar. Elsa turned her phone back on and lit up the area. The room was small and empty, barely fitting the two girls within it. The glow of the cell phone didn't do much to light up the dark room, but Anna was still able to make out a door opposite to the ladder. In the centre of the door, there was an old metal doorknob shaped like a skeleton face. It's mouth was gaping open and filled with long sharp teeth. Anna couldn't understand why, but it looked like it was laughing. She delicately wrapped her fingers around the freaky looking knob and turned. The door pushed open with an eerie creak, unveiling a long flight of stairs. Even with the light shining down the stairwell, neither of the girls could see past a few steps in the all consuming darkness.

Anna stared back at her sister before taking a careful step forward through the door. Her hand felt along the wall until she felt a bump on the cement surface. The familiar texture and shape of a light switch caused her to sigh in relief. When the switch was flicked upwards, their eyes were flooded with light.

"Wow," the two said in unison.

They were greeted with the sight of a wide open room, with a high concrete ceiling and carpet lined floors. The two girls slowly walked down the steps, beholden the secret room in silent awe. Beside the staircase a large bookcase stood, lined end to end with books that Anna didn't recognize. On the wall to the right of the book case, a large bulletin board was hanging up, with pictures and newspaper clippings pinned up. Below the board was a desk littered with disorganized papers, wide open books and empty coffee cups. On the side of the room opposite to the bulletin board and at the end of the staircase was another desk, though this desk was much larger and made from thick cherry oak. The old blocky computer monitors and printing machine that lined the enormous desk didn't look like they were from a year later that 2000. On the fourth side of the room there was only an old leather couch and a metal door.

"What is this place?" Elsa wondered aloud as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

She and Anna wandered around the strange hideout. Elsa examined the computer monitors, testing to see if they worked. Meanwhile Anna looked over the board and the cluttered desk. The board was covered with newspaper clippings, photos, drawings, and pages that looked like they had been torn out of books. There were multicoloured strings being pinned to each part of the board, creating lines that connected from one paper to another and intertwined with each other. In the centre of the board was a lone piece of paper, connected to several newspaper clippings and ripped pages. On the paper, a name was written.

"Kozmotis Pitchiner," Anna whispered. The name was old, at least Anna thought it was. It wasn't like any name she had ever heard before. And it felt heavy on her tongue, like there was some otherworldly weight to it. Even the air around her seemed to cool when she said it out loud.

"Who?" Elsa asked as she walked up behind her. Anna jumped slightly at her sister's voice, before motioning to the paper.

"I'm not sure who it is," Anna stated as she looked over the newspaper clippings connected to the name. None of them mentioned a Pitchiner. "The name was just up on the board."

Elsa absentmindedly looked over the papers and books on the desk, but she froze when she caught sight of the empty coffee cup. The coffee had long since dried up and the inside was covered in cobwebs. But it was the outside that caught Elsa's attention. It was painted with images of flowers and snowflakes.

"This was dad's cup," she said. "This is dad's desk. This is his secret hideout, thing."

"Wait, what?" Anna gawked in shock, confusion clouding her mind. "Why would dad have a secret lair under the basement?"

"I don't know," Elsa replied. "But we gave him this cup for Father's Day, back when you were three." Anna could vaguely remember painting the flowers on the cup and then watching Elsa expertly paint snowflakes in between her flowers. Elsa brushed her fingers along the paper that was pinned to the board. "And this was his hand writing."

Anna looked over the writing on the piece of paper, along with most of the notebooks on the desk and realized that her sister was right. This was her father's office. But it had nothing to do with his company or the mechanics that he used to work on. This stuff was something else entirely.

"What is this, Elsa?" Anna asked, though she didn't think her sister had the answer.

"No idea," Elsa answered honestly. "But we're going to find out."

Anna carefully ran her fingers along the crisp pages of the notebooks and letting the words soak into her mind without actually reading what they said. She could almost feel her father's fingerprints in the texture of the paper. She clenched her hand into a fist and brought it up to her heart.

"We shouldn't tell Kai about this," Anna said. "Not until we figure out the truth."

Elsa nodded her head slowly. They both loved their guardian deeply, but their was no doubt he would stop them from looking more into this place and what their father was doing down here. "We should probably go back upstairs and keep cleaning," Elsa suggested. "Before he suspects anything. But after Christmas, we are going to do some major sleuthing."

"Sweet," Anna whispered, a tiny smile twitching at her lips.

**~Hiccup~**

"It's not a big deal Mer," Hiccup sighed, desperately trying to calm down his angry friend. "I've just been feeling a little out of it."

He hadn't expected Merida to pick up on his conflicted emotions and withholding of information so fast. But she always did strive to be unexpected. She had stormed over to his house in a fury on the day after Christmas and then demanded to know what he was hiding from her. Now she was currently interrogating him.

She snorted a loud and sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, no kidding!" she practically yelled. "I don't hear from you or Elsa for days after that stupid party, and then I find out from my dad that you were held at gunpoint twice only to be rescued by the Snow Queen. And you didn't bother to tell me any of this because why?"

"I just didn't want you to worry," he tried to reassure her. "You have a tendency to overreact over little things."

"This isn't a little thing, Hiccup," Merida scowled. "You were almost killed and didn't bother to tell me. Not only that, but I haven't heard any word from Elsa since the banquet."

"She's grounded," Hiccup stated, his voice cracking because of his nerves. He was terrified that he was giving Elsa away. "She's not allowed to contact anyone."

Merida didn't answer him for a moment. Her eyes narrowed on him with a heavy scowl. It was like those bright blue eyes were ripping through him. She could see he was keeping secrets from her. She always had a knack for that. Or maybe he was just that obvious.

"You've been acting all twitchy ever since I got here," Merida said. Hiccup was surprised how calm her voice sounded and how quietly she spoke. "What are you hiding?"

Hiccup knew he couldn't answer, not honestly. Elsa's secrets were hers to share, and he knew he had no right to tell anyone else the truth. So he kept silent, even as Merida stepped towards him. She looked like she was going to grab him and shake him until he confessed. But before she could take another step, the ring of his cellphone blared.

They stared at each other for a moment, the tension breaking with each ring. Hiccup reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his smart phone, receiving a suspicious glare from the redhead that stood across from him when he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hiccup," Elsa's voice addressed, sounding relieved. "I need your help."

"Uhhh," he started, his eyes staying on Merida. She she was staring him down still. He wasn't sure how long he could go on lying to her without breaking. With this in mind, he didn't bother wondering why Elsa would possibly want his help. He needed to get this off his chest, one way or another. "Sure thing, Els. I'll be right there."

At the mention of Elsa's name, Merida's eyebrows shot up and her frown deepened. She could definitely tell something was going on.

"Awesome," Elsa replied. "I'll explain everything when you get here."

"Yep, you're gonna have to do that," Hiccup said quickly, he rushed out a goodbye before Elsa could say anything else. "I'm on my way."

He hung up the phone and put it in his pocket, silently preparing for the onslaught of questions Merida was bound to ask.

"What the hell is going on with you two?" Merida shouted. "Are you two secretly going out or something? Is that what this is?"

Hiccup was almost sure that she would ask something like that, but he still ended up choking on his own spit. Even the thought of the question was still enough to shock him.

"It's not like that Mer," Hiccup sputtered, though Merida looked less than convinced. There wasn't any way for her to guess the truth on her own. "It's just...you need to come and see for yourself."

"See what?" Merida fumed, her lips snapping on her last word.

"Just come with me," Hiccup said, not giving any other indication of the truth. Elsa was going to have to explain that herself. He could hear Merida groan in frustration as he walked towards the exit. He could only hope at the end of the day, he didn't have two of his friends pissed off at him.

**~Elsa~**

"Any luck?" Anna asked anxiously from her father's desk.

"Not yet," Elsa answered, trying another password, and again hearing that nauseating beep that indicated she had guessed wrong. "Damn it. Dad only ever had like three passwords. Why the hell can't I guess this one?"

"Maybe Dad used all his good password energy on this password," Anna suggested. "So that's why all his other passwords sucked."

"Yeah, that's probably it," Elsa agreed sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.

Anna was pouring herself over the books that had been left scattered across the desk. Meanwhile, Elsa was trying to unlock the password on her father's computer. No matter what she did, she couldn't get in. She had guessed password after password until her fingers were sore. Which was exactly the reason she had called Hiccup in the first place. He was usually great at things like this. It was good he was coming over now because she probably wouldn't be able to handle any more frustration.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Hiccup, indicating he was at her back door.

"Finally."

Elsa let out a sigh of relief and quickly climbed the steps up to the chute that led up to the basement floor. Luckily Kai had been to angry with the both of them to check up on them frequently. They left both the fireplace doors and the door to the lair open so the would be able to hear him on the rare occasions that he would come down. Elsa was afraid she would be under constant supervision and unable to investigate her father's secret hideout. But she was lucky that he didn't suspect her of doing anything while she was trapped in the house.

Since she was grounded, Kai probably wouldn't let her have friends over, so she decided to let Hiccup in through the side terrace doors that lead directly to the basement. Elsa walked across the basement to the exercise room that lead outside and was more than a little surprised to find that Hiccup wasn't alone.

"Merida?" Elsa asked when she opened the door. The redhead in question was seething and staring her down with scrutiny. "What are you doing here?"

She shot a questioning look at Hiccup, who shrugged with a somewhat guilty expression. "Sorry," he admitted. "She wouldn't get off my back."

"Damn straight," Merida practically yelled. Elsa tried to motion he to lower her voice, so Kai wouldn't know they were here. Merida was having none of that however. "You guys have been all allusive and secretive since the Christmas party. And you better explain yourselves right now or you can go find a new best friend."

Elsa rolled her eyes, her own built up frustration and annoyance getting the better of her. She didn't even think of Merida's flaming temper when she bit out her next words. "You've been saying that since the ninth grade Mer. The threat is starting to lose its punch."

Merida's eyes narrowed in to slits of glowing sapphire. "Fine," she hissed. Without so much as another word she turned on her heal and started stomping off. Her hands were clenched into fists, and her whole body was practically shaking with rage. Knowing that she was going to break something on her way out, and that Merida would never forgive her if she didn't tell her the truth now.

"Mer, wait!" Elsa called out, running to catch up with her. Merida turned back to her with her arms crossed and her features fixed in a snap scowl. Elsa sighed as she tried to explain herself. "I'm sorry. It's just..."

She trailed off, not sure how to explain this. She didn't really need to explain anything to Hiccup. He just figured it out on his own and them immediately adjusted to it. With Merida she would actually have to confess. And that was proving to be obscenely difficult, she could barely form the words in her mind, let alone her mouth. She looked back at Hiccup for some kind of support, but he could only offer her a shrug.

Merida stared her down expectantly, and Elsa knew that if she didn't say anything soon, Merida was going to get fed up with the silence and just leave. Eventually she decided to give up with explaining. The words would never form in her mouth no matter how hard she tried. Elsa held out her hand and flexed her fingers. Merida's face shifted from anger to shock as she watched a flurry of snowflakes spiral upwards from Elsa's outstretched palm.

"I'm the Snow Queen," she stated simply, her expression composed and passive.

Merida's jaw would have dropped to the floor if it wasn't attached to her face. Her round eyes managed to get bigger and rounder as she gaped at Elsa in astonishment.

"Holy shit!" she practically screamed.

Elsa jumped at the pitch and loudness of her voice and immediately ran forward to shush her. She slapped her hand over Merida's mouth to stop her from screaming anything else. "Not so loud. Kai can't know that your hear or he'll kill me."

Merida quickly nodded and muffled out an agreement that couldn't actually be heard through Elsa's fingers.

"Let's go back inside," Elsa suggested.

When the three of them were in the basement and the doors to the terrace were shut behind them, Merida's excitement was set loose in a jumble of incomprehensible words.

"Ohmygosh! Ican'tbeliveyou'rethesnowqueen! Thisissocool! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!"

"Calm down Mer," Elsa said, putting her hands up to ease Merida into a state of rest. "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Merida repeated in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? This is huge! You're a superhero!"

Elsa allowed herself a small satisfied smile. She hadn't really gushed over her new situation before then, but she did have to admit that it was pretty cool. "I'm glad you understand."

"How long have you had these powers?" Merida muttered as she paced the room. "How the heck have I not noticed you were an unnatural before?"

"I've had them for as long as I can remember," Elsa answered with an uneasy shrug. "I've gotten pretty good at hiding them over the years. I only started using them when I went out as the Snow Queen."

"So at the Christmas party, when you ran off..." Merida started to ask.

"Yep," Elsa answered her unfinished question.

"And then you rescued Hiccup from those thugs?"

"Yep."

"And that's when he recognized you."

"Yep."

"So this is what you guys were hiding?"

"Right again," Hiccup chimed in.

Merida sighed to herself. "That's a relief. I thought you two were dating or something."

"What?" Elsa gaped in surprise.

"Anyway," Merida continued as if she hadn't heard her. "Now that we all know your secret, we can help you out with this whole superhero thing." She let out a gasp of excitement as her thoughts whiled by a mile a minute. "We could form a team!"

"Whoa, hold on-" Elsa tried to protest, but she was promptly cut off.

"Hiccup's super smart, so he can come up with battle strategies. And I'm great at fighting in general."

"No, Merida you're not getting involved in this. Neither of you are. It's way too dangerous," Elsa argued vehemently.

Merida scoffed. "Like I can't handle a little danger," she snorted. "My dad's been training me in self defence and fighting techniques since I was a kid. Plus I'm a wiz with a bow and arrow. I could be Robin Hood. Hell, I'm probably better equipped for this hero thing than you are."

"You don't understand," Elsa groaned in frustration. She knew it would be a mistake to tell Merida. She would always insist on throwing herself into adrenaline filled and potentially dangerous situations. It was never enough to watch the fight from the sidelines, she always had to get in on the action. Now that she knew the truth about the Snow Queen, there was nothing stopping her from jumping into this fight. "I don't want you to risk your life. I can't see you get hurt because of me."

"And I can't see you get hurt because I didn't help you," Merida insisted. Elsa frowned at her friend. Now she was just being unfair. "All I want to do is protect you, while you go around protecting everyone else."

Elsa crossed her eyes as she tried to come up with a proper retort. There was no way Merida was going to change her mind about this subject. She would jump off a bridge before she would go back on her word.

Before Elsa could come up with anything to say, there was a clambering of footsteps and a flustered looking Anna barrelled into the exercise room. Her eyes wide like saucers and her breathing coming out in sharp pants.

"I heard shouting, what's going on?" she asked in concern. When she caught sight of Merida, she stood up straight, startled by her presence. "Merida? What are-"

"She knows," Elsa interrupted.

"Oh," Anna said quietly in realization. Her eyes shifted around the room, from Elsa to Hiccup to Merida. "This whole secret identity thing is getting pretty hard to maintain."

Elsa had to laugh at that. She had only been in the hero business for about two weeks and already five people knew her secret identity. She was going to have to be more careful. Hiccup nor Merida would tell anyone else about her powers, she had no doubt of that. But who knows who else might recognize her when she goes out as the Snow Queen. Sure, not many people were as observant or knew her as well as Hiccup, but that didn't mean she shouldn't take extra precautions. She'd have to work on her mask design and on disguising her voice later. Right now she needed to get back to the reason why she asked Hiccup to come over in the first place.

"That doesn't matter right now," Elsa said in response to her sister before turning her attention back to her friends. "I need to show you guys something."

"What's up?" Hiccup asked in slight concern when he noticed Elsa's serious tone.

"You guys won't believe it until you see it," Elsa assured them before leading to the other end of the basement and into the back storage room. The cellar doors were still wide open and luckily the light from the hideout made it easier to see.

Hiccup and Merida remained in stunned silence as Elsa lead them down the ladder and into the underground lair. Anna had smirked to herself at their speechlessness when she followed down the ladder. They're eyes widened so much that Elsa was afraid they might pop out of their sockets. They took in the surroundings in a state of awe, even though they were only standing in a simple cement bunker. The fact that it was hidden under the house they had been to so many times before made it the most shocking room in the world.

Hiccup was the first to speak. "What is this place?"

"No idea," Elsa said as she descended down the staircase, her friends and sister trailing behind her. "But our father used to use it. We just don't know why or what for."

"I didn't take your dad as the skeleton in the closet type," Merida mumbled as she ran her hand over the railing.

"Neither did I," Elsa replied softly.

Hiccup and Merida explored the space in curiosity, looking over the computers, the bookcase, the cluttered desk of notes, and the board.

"Why was your father researching Scottish and Nordic history?" Hiccup asked in confusion. "Didn't he work in computer design? Why would he look into all of this?"

"We're not sure," Elsa said with a shrug. "It has something to do with that guy."

She motioned to the paper pinned up on the centre of the board. Merida reached up to grazed the name with her fingers. "Kozmotis Pitchiner?" she read aloud in confusion. "Who's that?"

Anna answered, shaking her head. "Absolutely no idea."

**~Jack~**

He had been careful. He only ever broke into low key stores and and banks. The ones with low security systems and cameras that were easy to spot and easy to frost with ice. And with the possibility of the Snow Queen lurking around any corner, he made sure to check his surroundings and keep his break ins as brief as possible.

But that didn't stop the world from screwing Jack over as he broke into a discount pawn shop. How was he supposed to know the owner was asleep on his desk in the basement of the shop? How was he to know the place even had a basement? When the old man heard the breaking of the glass window upstairs, he had been startled awake. The pawn broker didn't go up to confront the burglar on his own and give him the warning to high tail it out of there. He called the cops, quietly and calmly, as Jack Frost went through the jewelry behind the glass case at the front of the shop and money within the old fashioned cash register.

Jack only knew he was in trouble when the sound of police sirens blared from outside. He cursed himself for his carelessness under his breath. Stuffing the money and jewelry he had collected into his pocket, he made his way slowly and quietly to the back door. Life took another shot at him, and it turned out that a small group of officers were surrounding the back door as well. When Jack got outside, he was greeted by firearms being aimed at his face. He thanked God that his hood was up, shadowing his face and his cloak hid the rest of his body.

"Put your hands in the air and get down on the ground!"

The order made Jack's face twitch in frustration. He hated getting ordered around, and he hated getting caught even more. This was going to complicate matters. He had to get out of there without getting shot. And that was going to be impossible with out resorting to using his frost. Well it seemed like that couldn't be helped anyway.

Jack lifted up his staff in a movement that was quicker than lightning. A flash of frost ignited from the curved end of his staff and blasted the policemen off of their feet. He gripped his staff as tight as he could and felt the rush of wind flare under him and lift him off the ground. He flew out of there as fast as he could before the police could regain their footing. Shots were fired off at him, but he was far out of range. Jack breathed a sigh of relief. The wind whistled in his ears as he flew further and faster. His frustration bubbled up within him as he thought about almost getting caught. He had been careless and he was now paying the price. It made him want to slap himself for his own stupidity. He had gotten away, but he had been seen where he had never been seen before. The police now knew that Jack Frost existed and they knew that he had powers. It was only a matter of time before Elsa figured out that he existed and then came after him, because she was a hero and heroes chased after thieves. That thought alone was enough to make him snarl.


	12. Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Journeys end in lovers meeting, every wise man's son doth know."
> 
> William Shakespeare

**~Hiccup~**

Stoic Haddock made a habit of grumbling to himself while at the kitchen table. They rarely ate together with the late nights his father had to work and the general awkwardness they felt around each other. Both of them had their own routine and their own way of tiptoeing around each other. Hiccup would come home from school, do his homework, work on whatever art design he was creating that week, make his own dinner and then go up to his room before his dad came barreling through the door at 11. Stoic would come home, sometimes make his own food but usually bring home take out of some kind, and then go down to his wreck room only going to sleep at a point when Hiccup had already passed out. It wasn't a perfect system by far for a father and son. But it worked well enough for him.

But there were some days his dad would come home early, and while he let Hiccup do most of the cooking, he would sit at the table and grumble about the things that transpired that day while he was at work.

Usually Hiccup didn't pay attention to what he said. But that day had been different as soon as he heard his father mention the Snow Queen. Hiccup couldn't exactly hear the details of what his father was talking about, or why he had mentioned the white clad hero in his rant, but he made sure to pay extra close attention as he stumbled around the kitchen. He tried to be as subtle as possible with his listening, making very little noise while he prepared a stir fry. But his father was always sharper than Hiccup gave him credit for.

"If you're curious, just spit it out Howard," Stoic muttered in his thick gruff voice. Clearly, he was tired. Hiccup could tell that he wasn't in the mood to deal with him trying to sneak around. But at least he hadn't ordered him out of the kitchen.

Hiccup tensed up when his father's words reached his ears. It was never fun when he got caught. Casting an uneasy look over his shoulder, he looked at his dad through the corner of his eye. Stoic didn't look furious, just exasperated. It wasn't too likely that he was going to get yelled at or berated, hopefully. Slowly Hiccup turned to face him.

"I just heard you mention the Snow Queen," Hiccup answered, unable to keep his eyes on his father for a long period of time. Instead he looked to his socks for support. "Is something wrong? Is she in trouble?"

He hoped to God he didn't sound too suspicious and it just sounded like a casual question. He wouldn't think he father would sense anything was up if he asked a few questions about a case regarding the Snow Queen. Plenty of kids his age were incredibly interested in her. His father probably wouldn't be able to deduce that he knew her personally.

"No," Stoic answered plainly. "We believe she's responsible for a robbery that took place last night."

This was one of those occasions where Hiccup would have spit out a drink in a giant comedic spray. Fortunately, he hadn't been drinking anything. Instead he only choked and sputtered on his own spit.

"What?" he asked, his voice a little too enthused and loud for a quiet and serious conversation with his father. Immediately, he adjusted his voice and tried to calm his shock. He couldn't stop his hands from shaking though. "Why? What happened?"

Usually Stoic wouldn't impart confidential information to Hiccup, but today it seemed he was making the decision to humour him for once.

"There was a robbery at a pawn shop last night," Stoic explained, looking down at the cup of coffee he had set in front of himself 30 minuets ago and had yet to touch. "The robber got away. But the reason she did was because she used some sort of ice to blast my officers onto their backs. And then she just vanished."

From the tone of his father's voice, he seemed to be talking to himself more than he was talking to Hiccup. He barely seemed to be acknowledging his son's presence in the room.

"The Snow Queen is the only unnatural with powers like that," his father continued, his voice getting gruffer and quieter with each word. "As far as we know. We have to bring her in for questioning, by any means."

His words slowly trailed off into incoherent grumbles again. Hiccup turned back towards the counter and continued to make dinner. He was unable to hear what his father was saying now. But he could only take a guess that it was nothing good.

He needed to get a hold of Elsa, and find out what was going on.

**~Elsa~**

_'There were only four occurrences where the Snow Queen has appeared. Twice to stop Megamind, once rescuing one person in a gang related fight, and once more to stop a terrorist attack on the Annual Christmas Banquet. Each of these encounters have left her in an injured state and she narrowly escaped from certain death each time. And despite the her limited number of appearances she has made, the Insinius national news team is treating her like she's the second coming._

_The truth of the matter is that the Snow Queen is an unimpressive and underwhelming addition to the growing list of unnaturals that are posing as heroes. She lacks the charisma of Metro Man. She lacks his wits and overall strength of character and morals. Her powers consist of the ability to manipulate ice and snow and that's about it. Compared to the indestructible Metro Man, the Snow Queen is simply a child in a mask pretending she can keep up to her predecessor. And the media is in the same state of denial._

_They are encouraging the behaviour in adolescents to go out and confront dangerous situations that are guaranteed to give them sustainable injuries and possibly kill them. What happens if more young unnaturals go out and follow this delusional delinquents lead? What if more children go out and take the law into their own hands? Despite people refusing to acknowledge it, the Snow Queen is making this city a much more difficult place to live in than it already was._

Elsa's scowl became deeper and deeper as she continued to read the online article that had been published about her. It wasn't the only one to do so. There were plenty of others that were comparing her to the dead super hero, now that the hype surrounding her appearance wore off.

To say that Elsa had been having a bad week would be an understatement. It was only one more day until Christmas break was over and she had spent the entire holiday fighting crime, cleaning her mansion, researching her father's strange files and stewing in her own frustration.

After Merida found out she was the Snow Queen, most of their conversations had been dedicated to discussing team names. No matter how Elsa insisted, Merida would not give up on the whole superhero team up scheme of hers. Elsa knew for a fact that even now Merida was either brushing up on her hand to hand combat or trying to come up with a team name. The complete disregard that Merida had for her own safety was nothing new, but it was still exhausting to argue with her about it. It was like trying to reason with a temperamental wall.

To make matters worse, Hiccup had managed to hack into her father's computer. Now one might think that was a good thing, but unfortunately the computer knew it was getting hacked into. All the files that were on the computer were deleted. Just like that, automatically wiped from existence. The only thing left had been some outdated map of the city. What ever her dad had been working on was a mystery and was apparently going to stay that way. Unless she had more luck in deciphering his notes and the wall of crazy that he had, which was seeming more unlikely each time she studied it. All he seemed to be doing was cataloguing a series of mysterious deaths and disappearances that went back as far as the eighteen hundreds. None of the deaths seemed to be connected from what she could tell. So she had no luck there.

But her holiday didn't spiral into atrociously awful until that very afternoon.

Elsa and Anna had been sprawled out on her bed, watching Anna's favourite show. Elsa was pouring herself over the article and several others like it while Anna was gushing over the characters on the screen. As she read, her phone buzzed beside her, taking her out of her concentration.

Swiping the remote from Anna, she turned on the mute button so she would actually be able to hear the person on the other end. Her sister made a small protest but eventually just went to text on her phone. Quickly she picked up the phone and answered with a weary sigh. "Hello?"

"Hey Els," Hiccup's voice filtered through the speaker. He sounded anxious as he spoke to her, as if he was really shaken up by something. It wasn't difficult to worry Hiccup with something, but there was something in his voice that added an extra note of concern. "Can I ask you something?"

Elsa screwed her face in confusion at the nervousness in his tone. "Um, sure," she answered cautiously. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, it's just..." He paused for a moment, unsure how to continue with his question. Eventually he decided to just spit it out. "Have you been robbing any pawnshops as the Snow Queen lately?"

Elsa's eyebrows shot up. Her jaw would have dropped to the floor of it wasn't attached to her face. What on earth caused Hiccup to ask that? "No," she answered, even more confused than she had been at the start of the conversation. "What are you talking about?"

"My dad thinks you robbed a pawnshop last night," Hiccup answered quickly.

"What?" Elsa yelled in alarm. "Why would he think I would rob a pawnshop? Why would I even need to rob a pawnshop?"

Anna looked up from the TV screen at that statement, her eyes widening in surprise.

"It's not exactly you he suspects, but the Snow Queen," Hiccup answered. "There was a robbery last night, and the robber got away after the police got there."

"But what does that have to do with me?" she asked, getting annoyed with the idea that she was already thought to be some sort of anti hero after being the Snow Queen for not even three weeks.

"The robber used ice to knock the police responding to the burglary down," Hiccup explained, his voice deadly serious. "Whoever it was had powers similar to yours."

Elsa felt her chest heave and she nearly dropped her phone in shock. She clutched the cell tightly and tried to remain calm.

"Okay," she breathed. "Hiccup, I need you to find anything you can on that robbery. Tell me everything tomorrow at school."

"Alright," Hiccup agreed. "Els, try not to go out as the Snow Queen until we figure this out. Im pretty sure my dad is organizing your arrest."

Elsa nodded before answering weakly, "Kay."

After murmuring a quick goodbye, Elsa hung up the phone and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. The police suspected her to be a burglar, which was going to cause many more people to try and figure out her identity. Her family and friends were one thing. The whole police force was another thing entirely. Not only that but there was some sort of robber out there in Insinius with powers that were almost identical to hers. Either they were intentionally trying to frame her, or they were accidentally discovered and lucky enough to have their guilt directed towards her. Either way it meant that she had a serious problem.

Elsa knew that people like her existed. They had been around for as long as she could remember. The common name for them was unnaturals, and they were just part of they’re world after Metro Man came around. Elsa had always had her powers due to some sort of defect at birth, she had theorized. But other unnaturals came to be in all sorts of ways. Chemical accidents, scientific experiments gone wrong, typical Hollywood stuff. But even though these people were known to exist, they weren't very common. Only a handful could be found within one country. Elsa didn't know any others that existed in the city besides herself, Rapunzel, and at one point Metro Man. And now there seemed to be another, with powers that were eerily similar to hers. In all honesty, she wasn't sure how to feel about it. At one point she might have been excited about meeting someone with the same powers as her. Someone who might have the secret on how to control them. But given the fact that this person was a criminal, it was incredibly concerning. What if they had a better grasp on their powers than she did? They would know all her abilities and strengths, all her limits and weaknesses. It would be a piece of cake for them to defeat her then.

"What was that about?" Anna asked once Elsa put the phone down. When her sister didn't answer, she reached out to touch her shoulder. At the contact, Elsa flinched, being sharply torn out of her thoughts. She turned and blue eyes met sea green ones. "Elsa, what is happening?"

"I'm not sure," Elsa replied honestly. She really didn't know anything about this robbery. She had to have more information before she started jumping to conclusions about this mysterious robber and how big of a threat they may or may not have been. "But we're going to find out everything tomorrow when we go back to school."

"Ah yes," Anna nodded, looking off to the side with a glazed expression. "School. The real enemy here."

**~Jack~**

Jackson was more than a little stressed out when he returned to school. He wasn't sure if anyone was suspecting him for his crime or if Elsa knew anything. Every turn he took in the halls, he was afraid he would see her face. Paranoia filtered through his mind, making him think that just by meeting his eyes, she would suddenly know all his secrets. His friends didn't notice his jumpy behaviour, or if they did, they didn't call attention to it.

Jackson spent most of his day watching Elsa while in the classes that they shared. They were in the same English class and Chemistry class, but for being the smartest kid in both those classes, she didn't answer any questions unless she was called upon. She seemed preoccupied herself, and didn't look up to meet his gaze that entire day. In fact, she barely spoke or looked at anyone.

Not until the near end of the day when he saw her drag her sister Anna, Hiccup and Red off during lunch.

Jackson had caught sight of them speaking in urgent whispers at the table in the farthest corner of the library. He couldn't hear what they said, but he knew everyone at that table was concerned about something.

Could they have been talking about him? Everyone knew Hiccup was the son of the commissioner. If he somehow gained access to the information of a pawn shop robbing unnatural with the power to manipulate ice, would he tell Elsa? Did he know of Elsa's powers? Did they know she was the Snow Queen? Were they all gathered together to come up with a plan to catch him and then turn him into the police?

Jackson was going to give himself a heart attack with all the unneeded paranoia that was being shoved upon him. He had to stop going out as Jack Frost. As long as Jack Frost didn't make any appearances for a while, he wouldn't be found out. He left no physical evidence or finger prints in his spirit form, and the police didn't get a good enough look at him before he escaped. There was no way for them to find him.

But even the worry of getting discovered couldn't keep him from his need for that money. He was desperate at this point.

He had just started paying off his moms debts. She had never been close to paying them off until he started this. He didn't want her working two jobs for him and Pippa anymore. Plus, he still needed more to save up for his sister's college fund. Or else she wouldn't have anyway to support herself. He couldn't stop now. Not after all the work he had put into this. He couldn't just give up after he had come so far.

Jackson had a goal he had to meet. He needed more money, he didn't have nearly enough to take care of his family. He would just take a little bit more, and then he could stop. And everything would be fine, as long as he wasn't caught. Just a few more nights, and then this would all be over.

**~Elsa~**

"That doesn't seem entirely on the up and up," Merida stated as she leaned back heavily into her chair. "Didn't think you were so good with rule breaking, Hiccup."

"If you have a better idea, I would love to hear it," Hiccup muttered, rolling his eyes. "If we manage to hack into the police surveillance, we might be able to find some trace of the robber."

"How are we supposed to know if he'll even go rob another pawn shop?" Anna cut in with a tilt of her head. "What if this was only a one time thing?"

"I don't think it was," Elsa whispered in contemplation. "If someone was going to pull off that kind of heist, with those powers, only one time, why would they go to a pawn shop. Not to brag, but with my powers, someone could rob a national bank, no problem."

The four teens were seated at the most remote library table they could find. Luckily, most teenagers didn't go hang out in the cafeteria during their lunch break. The area was mostly deserted and since they were pressed into the far corner they could easily see if someone was approaching their table or not. Anna and Merida had been filled in about the ice wielding unnatural that was now a robber. And Hiccup had elaborated all the extra info he managed to pick up from his dad's computer files. Which turned out not to be much. The police had as little information as they did. All Hiccup managed to pick up was the fact that the robber had been armed with some sort of staff, and that they might have been responsible for a few other unsolved burglary cases. But that was only a theory.

"So you think this guy will try again," Anna replied curiously. "Even after nearly getting caught by the police."

"Well, he seemed to avoid them well enough," Hiccup answered. "Maybe he's confident enough to go for it."

"We have to find him," Elsa stated, shrugging her shoulders. She had been silently thinking over a plan as soon as she sat down at the table. Ideas had been whipping through her head all night "If I'm going to avoid getting arrested or being turned into some sort of wanted vigilante, we need to prove I wasn't the one robbing that shop. And I have the perfect way of doing that."

"What's the plan?" Merida asked curiously. "If by some miracle we do manage to find this guy on the surveillance, what's our next move."

"I'm going to confront them," Elsa explained, her voice blunt. "And I'm going to make sure all of it is caught on camera."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, giving her a skeptical look. "Are you going to get one of us to follow you around with a video camera?" he inquired.

Elsa smirked at him and shook her head in denial. "There's no way the police will accept the video of some high schooler as proper evidence," she answered with a shrug. "Plus, I can't publicly work with any of you. I need to use somebody that won't be traced back to me. Somebody I can trust. Somebody who owes me a favour."

Elsa cast a knowing look between the other three surrounding her. Each of them looked incredibly confused. She didn't expect any of them to actually guess who she was talking about. In fact, she had only just thought of the person on the spot. But the answer seemed so obvious now that it was beating around in her head.

"Roxanne Ritchi," Elsa finished with a satisfied grin. It was definitely one of her better plans.

Everyone at the table stared at her in stunned silence. Elsa could understand why. Roxanne Ritchi was the most famous reporter in the city. That fame may have come from her being an impressive journalist and news reporter, or it could have come from her being Metro Man's girlfriend and go to damsel in distress. But either way she was a bit too high maintenance to do a report on a pawn shop robber. However, Elsa was pretty sure she could get a hold of her. No reporter could resist a one on one interview with the Snow Queen. And Roxanne had showed interest last time she rescued her. It seemed like a fair trade.

"Okay," Hiccup muttered, giving her a skeptical glance. "Let's say you do somehow manage to get Roxanne Ritchi to follow you around with a camera man in order to hunt down a one time cat burglar, what are you supposed to do if you don't find him? It's not like you can be a superhero if you're wanted by the police. If my dad thinks you're responsible for this, he's going to assume that you'll commit some other crime. There's nothing more threatening than a criminal with superpowers."

"That's true," Anna chimed, nodding eagerly as she looked over to Elsa. "You would make a pretty boss super villain."

Elsa crossed her arms over her chest and curled into herself. They were right of course. This plan was a long shot and it depended entirely on the burglar striking a second time and possibly getting caught on the surveillance cameras. Even if he was desperate enough to go out on another robbing spree, he would be extra careful this time around. Careful enough to avoid all surveillance that was set up. But she needed to try something, even if it was probably impossible. "If push comes to shove, I'll take a stab at the whole vigilante thing. I'm already going against my guardian and my own common sense. Might as well add the entire police force to that list."

It was a terrifying thought, even though she tried not to make a big deal about it. When she had started this the likely hood of someone coming after her was high. But that person would be Megamind or a criminal, not the cops. When Metro Man was alive, the police were his allies. They worked side by side to keep the city safe, and they never turned against him. Even though there were plenty of cities where unnaturals were treated with distain and seen as dangerous instead of helpful, Elsa never believed such a thing could happen in Insinius. They embraced the idea of unnatural super heroes as soon as Metro Man showed up seventeen year prior.

She had been naive enough to believe that they would regard her with the same trust that they did with Metro Man. Though there was no possible way for her to predict that another unnatural with identical powers to hers would show up and start robbing pawn shops. Now, not only was the media starting to doubt her abilities, but the police believed her to be a two faced burglar, and because of that she was even more alone in this than she had been when she started. It would be much more difficult to hunt down bad guys when she in turn was getting hunted by the good guys.

"Well, we aren't going to let you get arrested," Merida cut in, slamming he hands down on the table. Everyone's gaze darted up to meet hers. "Even if the police do end up going after you, we're going to work together to keep you hidden. We can help you get away from the police whenever you go out "

Elsa rose an eyebrow at the redhead's proposal. "How?"

Merida's grin could have lit up a Christmas tree. "I'm glad you asked," she answered. She leaned back in her chair and propped her boots up onto the table to keep her balance. She was lucky they were in the farthest corner of the library or she would have gotten a heavy scolding. "I've taken the opportunity to come up with team names. Took me awhile but I came up with the perfect name."

"Ugh," Hiccup groaned to himself bitterly. "Not again."

Merida's fist collided painfully with his shoulder, silencing his grumbling. "Don't interrupt me," she demanded before continuing with her speech. "Now I went through a lot of different names that wouldn't be put under copyright and I finally came up with the perfect team name." She took a pause to let the suspense sink in. "BEST Squad."

Elsa gave Merida a deadpan look. "What?"

"Its an acronym," Merida explained. "You see I was thinking about it and I know that there are some people who think you're not as good Metro Man, and they're right about that. You're kind of an amateur."

"Gee, thanks Mer," Elsa sneered, recounting the article, along with Megamind and the thug leader at the banquet stating how inferior she was to Metro Man.

"Let me finish," Merida snapped irritably. "As I was saying, you're not nearly as good as Metro Man when you're alone, but all of us together make a top notch super hero. Together we've got all the traits we need to make one Metro Man. The best Metro Man. That's what the acronym is for. Brains," she said, pointing to Hiccup. Then she pointed to Elsa, "eye candy," She pointed to Anna. "spirit, and talent." Merida finished pointing to herself. "Best Squad."

"Wait," Elsa gaped. "Why am I only eye candy? I'm the only one here with super powers. If we even did do this, and we're not doing it because its suicidal, I would be talent."

"For real Els," Merida snickered. "Have you seen your costume?"

"We're not forming a super team," Elsa stated, finality in her tone. "I can't let you guys go down with me if I'm going to be a wanted criminal."

"Els, the whole point of this is to keep the police from getting you, or any super villain's from coming for you either," Merida argued. "We can help you escape when you need a quick getaway. Plus its not a big deal if me or Hiccup get caught. My mom can easily bail me out of any sticky situation. And Hiccup's dad is the commissioner, so he's in the good no matter what."

"Are you kidding me?" Hiccup cried. "My dad would slaughter me. And then he would bring me back to scold me while I cleaned up the mess."

"Well, thats not the point," Merida said, waving him off. "The point Elsa, is that you don't have to do this alone. We're your friends. I'm your friend, and I'm not going to watch helplessly from the sidelines as you go out there risking your life. Thats not my thing."

Elsa sighed, knowing this argument would last forever if she continued countering Merida. "Lets save this conversation until after we catch this guy alright? For now, Ive got a reporter to see."

**~Merida~**

Merida had never been a fan of computer stuff and the hacking that Hiccup did. She was much more of a hands on kind of girl. Which was why it sucked to be stuck in the lair with Hiccup as he waited for something to happen on the cameras. Fortunately, she wasn't going to be sticking around. As soon as Hiccup found the robber, she was going to find him and help Elsa take him out.

"I don't think this is such a great plan," Hiccup asked from his place as Merida put on a pair of thick combat boots.

She had created her costume out of whatever spare things she could find in her closet. A pair of army green cargo pants, a black turtle neck, a black jacket and a ski mask, plus the bullet proof vest under her jacket. Her hair had been neatly braided back so it would be easy to tuck under her mask and jacket. it would be really easy to recognize her if she had her bright red tresses everywhere when she went out. She pulled the dark hood over her head and flashed Hiccup a smile.

"Lighten up, Hiccup," she said with an easy smile. "This was technically your idea."

"Yeah," he conceded hesitantly. "But don't you think we should have told Elsa we were doing this. She's going to be pissed when you show up."

"Look, you know how stubborn she is," Merida stated as she picked up her custom designed compound bow and the slick arrows that Hiccup had spent the past week creating. "But she needs us to be there for her. You said so yourself."

"Gotta agree with Merida on this one," Anna agreed from her spot in front of the computer monitors. Each of them had been taking turns watching the different security footage that Hiccup had managed to set up. She didn't tear her eyes away from the screen as she spoke. "Elsa was almost killed three times already. More superheroes on her side can only help at this point."

"Merida isn't an unnatural though," Hiccup argued. He turned to the red head with a look of concern. "What if you get hurt?"

"I have twelve years of combat training under my belt," Merida answered in a dry tone, tired of giving this same speech over and over. "I'm trained in karate, kick boxing, self defense, fencing, and," She pulled out an arrow and with her bow, fired it straight into the center of the wall of crazy. Hiccup flinched when the arrow pierced the very center of the board, right where the name Kozmotis Pitchiner was written. Merida grinned at his startled response. "I never miss a target."

Hiccup was probably about to give a long boring lecture on firing the steel arrows he designed while inside a small space, but he was cut off by an excited squeal from Anna's direction.

"Snap! I caught him!" Anna cried out, elated by her discovery. "Check it out, guys!"

Merida and Hiccup wandered over to the computers and looked at the camera footage she was staring at. The screen for that particular camera was white.

"It looks like it was frosted over," Hiccup whispered, he started typing some demands into the computer. "That camera is stationed on Wellesley and Church street."

"Got it," Merida said with a nod before barreling up the stairs towards the ladder.

"Merida wait!" Hiccup called out, but he was a few seconds too late. Merida was already up the ladder to the mansion basement and on her way to the back door. She ran as fast as she could to the back gate of Elsa and Anna's mansion. Luckily she was already pretty accustomed to hopping that fence. She had lost count of all the times she had snuck in from the back.

Her dad's motor bike had been parked just on the other end of the wall. He had stopped using it after his hunting accident, but he always encouraged Merida to take it out. He said that a good bike needs to breathe. This was the perfect opportunity to take her for a spin. Nothing was cooler than a superhero on a motorbike.

**~Roxanne~**

Roxanne had been lounging on the couch, watching the TV with a bowel of spaghetti in her lap, when she heard a loud thud from her apartment balcony. Immediately she rose from her spot and wandered cautiously towards the glass doors that lead out to the patio. On the other side of the glass, a young blonde rapped her gloved knuckles on the door. The Snow Queen offered a tentative smile when she caught sight of Roxanne. She waved to the reporter, who quickly went to open the door.

"Woah! What the hell?" Roxanne asked in confusion. Everything that she was sure about with the Snow Queen was challenged by her present appearance at her apartment. From what she had seen of her so far, she was pretty sure the girl was a more reclusive type of hero. Not the kind to seek someone out at practically midnight, especially not a reporter. "What are you doing here?"

"I need your help with something, Roxanne," the Snow Queen answered. She took a step into the apartment and looked around. "There's this unnatural with powers like mine, and he might be trying to frame me with robbery."

Roxanne's eyes widened in surprise at her explanation. "Someone else with your powers?" she repeated in astonishment. It was more than a little surprising. Though unnaturals with elemental powers were said to be more common than others, Roxanne hadn't heard of an unnatural other than the Snow Queen that could manipulate ice and snow. And the fact that this unnatural was a criminal that was trying to frame the city's hero, made this an incredible scoop. Unnaturals that were criminals were nothing new, but they weren't usually identical in abilities to a hero. It would make a great story. However there was still one question. "But why would you need my help?"

"I need proof that this person isn't me. All I need is for you to get a camera and catch them and me on the same tape," she stated, adjusting her cape. "Will you help me out?"

Roxanne nodded immediately, she definitely wasn't going to let this girl get arrested for a crime she didn't commit. Roxanne had spent a lot of her time helping Metro Man acquire information on the villains he was trying to defeat while he was alive. She would be happy to do the same for the Snow Queen.

She pulled out her cell phone. "I'll call my camera man and see if I can get him down here. If he can't, I'll just try filming it with my phone."

The Snow Queen flashed her a grateful smile. "Thank you so much," she sighed, as if it was a great relief to have confirmation that they were on the same side. "I really need the evidence to come from a reliable source."

Before she could dial the number, there was a sudden ring from a different cellphone. The Snow Queen immediately pulled out a bright blue i phone from within a pocket in her tights. Roxanne didn't realize that costume could even have pockets. The phone itself was another indication that this girl was still pretty young. The reporter didn't know of anyone over twenty one that would carry a neon blue cell. The blonde pressed the answer button and pressed the receiver to her ear.

"Whats up?" she asked. There was a pause as the person on the other end answered her. "Awesome! Where is it? Okay, I'll be right there. I'll keep you posted." She hung up the phone with a wide grin. "Meet me at the corner of Church and Wellesley street," she told Roxanne rapidly.

She was heading out the balcony door in a blink of an eye. Roxanne barely had enough time to nod in compliance before the hero climbed over the railing and plunged downwards out of sight. When she rushed over to the rail to see if she was alright, she could just make out a large ice staircase leading up to her balcony, just as it started melting away

**~Elsa~**

She skated through the back alleys towards Wellesley street as fast as she could, dissolving the path behind her as she went. This was probably the luckiest break she would ever get in her entire life, and she wasn't going to let it slip by her.

When she arrived at the corner in question, she found several different stores that the robber could have broken into. All of them were closed at this time of night and the lights were off, but only one was sporting a partially open back door. Elsa made her way towards the discount jewelry store and peered through the window. Sure enough, she could see a shadow rummaging about in the darkness.

She quickly ducked out of sight and took a deep breath through her nose. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer. If this person really had her powers, it wasn't far fetched to assume that they might have a better grasp on how to use them than she was. But she couldn't deliberate on the concern and drive herself crazy with worry. She needed to get proof that she wasn't the criminal the police were looking for. Speaking of proof, she needed Roxanne to get there before she confronted this guy. Or risk him running off before getting any actual proof that he exists. She looked down the alley to see if there were any cars coming by. So far, she didn't seem to be arriving yet.

"Doesn't seem like the most illustrious place to rob, huh?"

Elsa let out a terrified squeak at the voice that came from behind her. She whipped around with her hands raised defensively and glowing an electric blue. The person before her was shorter than her and decked out in black and army green clothes, with a black mask blocking most of their features. The person let out a hysterical feminine chortle at her reaction, and it took Elsa a second to recognize the laughter and the clear blue eyes.

"Merida?" she whispered in shock. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Staking out with you," Merida replied with a grin. She held up a black compound bow and Elsa noticed the pack of arrows strapped firmly to her back. "Check it out. Hiccup made these amazing arrows for me." To illustrate her point she pulled out on of the many arrows and fired it at the ground. The tip went straight through the cement. "One of them even doubles as a grappling hook, so I can scale walls and stuff."

Elsa could only stare at her in shock as a series of incoherent questions managed to make it past her lips. "H-how did you? How did Hiccup make these?"

"He used that metal container that Megamind put on you to create the arrow heads. And let me tell you that stuff is strong," she answered. She plucked the arrow from the ground and put it back into the pack. She slung the bow over her shoulder and frowned distastefully at the uniform she wore. "Not the best costume design, but it'll do."

"You can't be serious," Elsa hissed, regaining her composure. She had known Merida had wanted to do the whole superhero thing, but she didn't believe she would actually go through with it. Though the more she thought on it, the more sense it made. "You know how dangerous this can be."

"Which is exactly why I'm here," Merida shot back. "I'm a better fighter than you and I'm stronger than you. Just think of me as a body guard or something."

Elsa knew Merida was right about having more experience than her when it came to defense and fighting. She had seen the red head win martial arts battles against people twice her size. But she wasn't ready to agree to this idea. She would never be able to forgive herself if Merida got hurt out here with her.

Before Elsa could argue with her any further, she heard the far off sound of a car stopping on the road. There was a slam of a door followed by two sets of footsteps. Elsa watched as Roxanne and a chubby man holding a large news camera came around the corner. The brunette reporter looked at the two costumed girls quizzically.

"Who's this?" Roxanne asked curiously as she looked over Merida. "Is she the robber? Should we start recording?"

Without instruction, the camera man immediately held up his camera and started filming the scene. He shot Roxanne a grin and a thumbs up and then went back to holding the camera, chewing a wad of gum as he did so.

"Wrong one thousand," Merida replied to the camera lens, giving it her best grin. "Names Artemis, I'm the Snow Queen's partner in crime. Or anti crime I guess."

Roxanne looked at the red head, bewildered by her statement.

"Really?" the cameraman asked in astonishment as he peaked out from behind the camera lens.

Elsa didn't want to explain the details of her personal life or how her best friend was obsessed with going out and risking her life to get an adrenaline rush, so she decided to go with the simple answer the wasn't likely to get either of them into trouble.

"Yes," she answered with a bit of a snarl, and she wasn't going to give anymore explanation. She turned back to Merida with a disbelieving stare. "Artemis? That's what you're going with?"

"Yeah," Merida answered with her arms crossed defensively over her chest. "I figured we would get a mythology thing going."

"The Snow Queen is a fairytale, it's not greek mythology."

"Yeah, but most fairytales are based on Greek myths anyway. So technically I'm more accurate than you."

"Um," Roxanne cut in, glancing between the two. "There is still a robber to catch, right?"

"Right," Merida agreed with a nod. "Let's get on that." She motioned towards the door, giving Elsa an expectant look. "Go get him."

Elsa glared at her in annoyance. As much as she would love to keep arguing with Merida about how bad of an idea this was, she had to clear her name and catch the bad guy first. She sighed in defeat before moving towards the back door. Quickly and quietly, she pushed open the door and ran inside. she was quickly followed by Merida, Roxanne and the camera man.

The robber was in the opposite corner of the shop, stuffing what looked like jewelry into his pockets. In the darkness of the room, Elsa couldn't clearly see his face. But she could tell he was wearing a thick cloak and had his hood pulled up to cover his features. As soon as they entered the shop, the robber turned around sharply to see who had intruded on his heist. His form was tense when he caught sight of everyone, and he took on a fighting stance

"Great," a man's voice muttered through gritted teeth, confirming that this was in fact a he.

Something in his voice was strangely familiar, but Elsa didn't bother trying to figure out why. She formed an ice dagger in her hands and held it out threateningly. The figure didn't even flinch, he just stood like a statue. Elsa noticed the long shepherds staff that he held in his hands, and how he clutched it like a life line. She had to guess that that was the weapon he had been armed with in the last robbery.

"Jig is up," Elsa said plainly, getting closer to the thief. He in turn started backing away from her, and towards the front door.

"Do yourself a favour and don't try for a great escape," Merida added in, aiming an arrow at him. Elsa had to admit that she certainly had the charisma for this whole hero thing. "That's not gonna pan out well."

The thief started raising his hands in what looked like surrender. But before Elsa or Merida could react, a blast of ice was fired from the curved end of his staff. The frost knocked all but Elsa off their feet and left the in temporary blindness. A flurry of heavy snowflakes fell around them and the floor was coated in thick ice. When Elsa was finally able to see clearly, the robber was gone and the front door was wide open.

Leaving the others behind, Elsa ran as fast as her legs could carry her and followed him out into the street. The robber stood at the other end of the road, gripping his staff and facing away from her. Without hesitation, she charged at him, running faster than she had ever run. Just as she was inches away from him, a gust of wind swooped in from out of nowhere, nearly knocking her to the floor. The wind picked him up off the ground like he was a paper doll. He flew up the side of skyscraper, shooting up like a bullet.

Elsa didn't think. Before he could get out of reach, she flailed her arm out to grab him, grab something. And she managed to catch his ankle in her grip.

Apparently grabbing onto his ankle didn't actually stop him from taking flight. With her holding on as tightly as possible, the two of them flew up the side of the building, all the way to the top. Wind rushed past her ears at the speed of lightning, drowning out the sound of the terrified screams that she couldn't hold back. She had both hands wrapped around his ankle, holding it as tightly as possible as she got further and further away from the ground. She needed to get them down. She needed to find a way to pull him downwards without getting either of them killed.

Seeing the fast approaching roof of the building, she managed to scrape together a somewhat decent plan, that hopefully wouldn't end in death. When they reached the edge of the roof, she stuck her feet out and braced her self on the top corner of the building. Pushing her feet against the wall, she hurled the thief and herself downwards onto the open roof. They rolled like heavy bowling balls as they collided with the concrete, tumbling into the center of the roof. It definitely wasn't a graceful or painless landing, but Elsa and the thief were still alive.

Elsa scrambled to her feet, ignoring the bruising ache in her bones as she got up. Her stomach was churning violently, and she resisted the urge to throw up. Her head was pounding, which was making it difficult to concentrate as the thief rose to his feet with a groan. His hood was no longer up, probably due to their violent fall. He turned to her with a sneer on his face.

Elsa's eyes widened and recognition hit her instantly. His eyes pale blue instead of warm brown and his hair was like silver instead of like chestnuts. But she knew the face of the boy whom she had been unfortunate enough to share most of her high school days with. Even though that face was significantly paler than usual.

"Jackson Overland," she said aloud without thinking.

Jackson pressed his lips into a firm line when he heard her utter his name. He jutted his chin out and gripped his staff. His eyes narrowed into a cold glare that caused Elsa to take a step away from him. He snapped a retort at her that made her as stiff as a board and shocked her to the core.

"Elsa Arendelle."

With that, the wind rushed up from under him once again, sending him off flying into the sky. Elsa was too stunned to move as he flew out of sight.

This was a problem.


	13. Hero of Their Own Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I suppose everyone feels that he is the hero of his own story, but there are no heroes. No villains. Just people doing the best they can."
> 
> Harold Finch, Person of Interest

~Jack~

He had been in the clear. The blast of frost had knocked those trying to catch him off their feet and had blinded them to his escape. It was incredibly frustrating that the Snow Queen managed to catch wind of his existence, but he had at least hoped she wouldn't have recognized him. And for a few relieving seconds, after making a getaway, it seemed like his identity was still concealed. He had been safe.

But Elsa had been faster than expected. 

When he had just gotten off the ground, he had felt her latch onto his leg and rise up with him into the sky. Jack hadn't even known he was capable of carrying someone when the wind carried him. But apparently that was the case. 

Elsa screamed louder than he thought was possible for her when they were picked up by the wind. She had seemed much more reserved in school. Then again, this was probably a new experience for her. He didn't kick her off of him out of fear that she would fall to her death. He planned to drop her onto the nearest empty rooftop before flying back to his home. He didn't think it would be difficult to ditch her since she seemed far too terrified to put up a fight. 

Apparently, he was wrong about that.

Elsa had managed to brace herself on the wall of the building they were flying past, and she flung them both down onto the roof with all her strength. The movement was strong enough to throw him out of the wind's pull and before he knew what was happening, he was colliding painfully with concrete. 

His head pounded when he rose from the ground and he could practically feel his nerves ringing when he stood to his full height. One would think that a spirit capable of separating from its body wouldn't experience pain or feeling in general. But that wasn't the case with him. He felt every tiny thing, unfortunately. 

When he turned, Elsa was already up on her feet and facing him. Her breaths came in short desperate pants and her form was hunched over, obviously not taking the landing any better than he was. 

Once they're eyes met, her face slowly morphed from determination to shock. She looked him over with an expression of pure alarm, as if she were aware he was a ghost. That was when he noticed that his hood was no longer up and covering his head. 

Crap.

"Jackson Overland," Elsa said quietly, speaking more to herself than to him. 

When the name left her lips, he felt his spine go stiff and his jaw clenched. Jack couldn't help the tightening of his mouth or the way the his heart pounded so loudly that he couldn't hear anything else. Terror made his insides churn, but he quelled the fear inside him. Blue eyes narrowed on the Snow Queen, staring her down with a look of livid defiance. 

His grip on the staff automatically tightened, and he craved the freedom of flight. His heart urged him to escape, to fly off and leave this horror show behind. But he stopped himself, thinking through his actions logically. She knew who he was, and he needed to make sure she wouldn't tell the authorities. And there was only one way to do that.

He ended up biting out his own bitter response to her, letting her know that he was just as aware of who she was. 

"Elsa Arendelle," he snapped, watching with satisfaction as her eyes widened in something akin to horror. 

He tightened his hold on the staff and the wind rushed up from beneath him. He was pushed up off the roof and he immediately flew off as fast as possible, leaving Elsa trapped and alone on the top of the building. 

As he flew over the city the events that had just taken place played through his mind, increasing his frustration and making him want to break something. Mentally, Jack cursed himself over and over again. He should have never gone out as Jack Frost. Not so soon after nearly getting caught. If he hadn't been so desperate for the money, this whole situation could have been avoided. And now because of his stupidity, Elsa knew the truth. 

Who knew what she was going to do with the knowledge of his alter ego. She could still tell the police, sacrificing her own secret in the process. Elsa no doubt knew as well as he did, that if she locked him up, he could reveal her identity to anyone and everyone. Hopefully she had enough self value to stop herself from doing that. If she didn't, then he was going to have to act drastically, perhaps skipping town, perhaps burning his staff. 

But he really didn't want it to come to that, so he was going to have to have a discussion with the Snow Queen. Lay down some ground rules and let her know that he had just as much power as she did. Whenever that would be possible.

~Elsa~

Elsa stared off in the direction that Jackson left with hazy eyes. Her legs were locked and she was stuck in place, though she wouldn't have been able to go after him anyway. She definitely did not have flying powers like he did, so apparently their abilities weren't identical. 

Her mind seemed to be going at the pace of a snail as she slowly filtered through each thought. But all of it was still too much for her to handle. 

Jackson Overland had just been standing in front of her. Jackson Overland was an unnatural with ice powers. Jackson Overland was using those powers to steal. Jackson Overland knew that she was the Snow Queen. 

"Oh god," she whispered to herself. 

Before Elsa could even begin to contemplate how to react to this situation, she heard the faint scraping of metal on cement. She turned to see a hook hanging onto the edge of the roof. Stunned eyes watched as Merida hurled herself over the top of the roof with a proud grin. 

"Grappling hook!" she exclaimed, standing with her hands on her hips. She looked around the area in surprise and her wide eyes flickered to Elsa before going back to searching the roof. "What happened? Did he get away?"

Elsa looked off in the direction that he went and then looked back at the redhead. "Kinda," she replied, still far too shell shocked to form a sentence in her mind. "He's uh, he..."

When her words trailed off, Merida approached her with a look of concern. She flicked Elsa in the arm to get a response, but she didn't even react to the contact. To be honest with herself she could barely feel it. She couldn't even really comprehend the aching left in her bones after the fall. The world around her was a tad fuzzy. 

"You okay?" Merida asked, waving a hand in front of her friends face. "Els? You kinda look like you went comatose. Have you gone comatose? Should I call an ambulance?"

This time Merida opted to aim her flick at Elsa's forehead, snapping her out of her engrossed state. Ignoring the blow dealt to her head, she scrunched up her eyes and tried to get a better hold on her tongue. 

"Jackson Overland," she finally spat out, allowing both Merida and herself to grasp the truth. "It was Jackson Overland."

Merida's face skewered in confusion. Slowly, realization filtered to her features until her jaw was hanging open in shock. "You mean, Jackson Overland was the thief."

All Elsa had to give was a curt nod and that was enough to send Merida into hysteria. It was extremely fortunate that they were the only ones on that roof at the moment. 

"That means Jackson-" she stopped herself mid sentence, taking a deep breath through her nose. It didn't do anything to calm her. She started stopping around and waving her bow around like a crazy person. "You two have- He's an unnatural! He's a thief! Powers! How? What? How?"

"He knows I'm the Snow Queen," Elsa whispered through Merida's questions. More to herself than to her friend, but that didn't stop her friend from hearing it. "He knows everything."

Merida turned back to face her with wide eyes. "He knows you're the Snow Queen?"

Elsa didn't offer any confirmation. She was too busy thinking on world shattering implications and the like. Things like how the hell was Jackson Overland of all people able to figure her out? Anna and Kai knew about her powers from the beginning, and there were few people on earth that were as observant as Hiccup. But Jackson Freaking Overland? Was her disguise really so flimsy?

Merida managed to ask most of these questions out loud plus a hundred others, and she was currently coming up with her own plan of action.

"Okay, here's what we can do," Merida growled, looking a bit more intense than usual, even with her face mostly covered. "We send the footage that we got to the police, we tell them who it is and tell him that he's insane and nothing he says can be trusted."

"If he gets arrested, he could tell the whole prison," Elsa debunked the idea immediately after she processed it. "He could easily tell Megamind. And that wouldn't go over well."

"Okay, plan b then," Merida tried once again. Her eyes went to the starless sky in order to conjure up a second plan. She tried to offer an easy smile. "Well, we could always murder him."

Elsa gave her friend an unamused look. "Merida," she warned impatiently. 

The red head rolled her eyes and held up her hands to wave off her suggestion. "I'm sorry, bad joke," she relented. "Does he know that you know who he is?"

Elsa nodded with a deep frown. "Definitely." She remembered the look he gave her when she uttered his name aloud. The way his sapphire blue eyes narrowed and turned colder than the ice. She was certain that the only reason he informed her that he was aware of her identity, was to make sure she didn't reveal his to anyone. It was a threat.

Merida stared at her expectantly, as Elsa was once again drawn into her own thoughts. Jackson had acted out of self defence. She was sure of it. Unless he had figured out right then and there that she was the Snow Queen, than he had in fact known it for a while, and he had kept it a secret. Perhaps in the case that he ran into this very situation. Now he was holding her identity over her head so she in turn wouldn't turn him in. It was an oddly smart move coming from a guy like Jackson. 

"I'm going to talk to him," Elsa said after a long pause. "I need to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Don't tell Hiccup about this, not until I get everything sorted."

"Alright," Merida conceded with a shaky nod, concerned and unnerved by the precarious situation. "Do you have any idea how you're going to do that?"

Elsa walked down to the edge of the roof, the wind whipped her long braid behind her back and caused her cape to flutter. Down on the street, she could see Roxanne and her cameraman searching for her and Merida. A smile twitched at her lips as a plan started forming in her head. 

"Yeah," she said. "I do."

Merida didn't say anything in response, she just started in stunned silence. Probably wondering what plan Elsa could possibly have but not daring to ask. Elsa could tell that she was completely aware of how serious this was, and how careful they would need to be. Even though they had both known Jackson for the better part of two years, he wasn't their friend, and he wasn't someone that could be trusted with the ticking bomb that was her secret identity. There were much more dangerous people out there that would kill to get their hands on that information. 

~Jack~

While standing in the school hallway, joking and laughing with his friends, Jackson didn't betray any of the nervousness he was feeling. In fact he was doing remarkably well to remain as calm as possible. If his thoughts weren't whipping through his head a mile a minute, he would be pretty damn proud of himself. 

He hadn't seen Elsa in the hallways that morning. But it was a big school, and it wasn't exactly likely that they would run into each other at the very beginning of the day. He was anxious to set things straight, but he wasn't going out of his way to find her. Jackson found it would be a little suspicious and just a bit creepy if he went actively looking for her. If the opportunity presented itself, he would try to get her alone and talk to her in private. But he wasn't about to go stalking her. 

As he headed off to his first class of the day (English, ironically with the girl in question), a hand griped the hood of his sweater and yanked him from behind. 

"Hey!" he yelled in protest as he was roughly pulled away from his desired path. The hand didn't relent and tugged him harder, nearly choking him as the collar of his hoodie strained against his throat.

Jackson managed to crane his head back and catch a glimpse of familiar flaxen blonde hair. The girl grasping his hood flung him into the closest abandoned classroom, causing him to stumble and nearly topple over. Elsa quickly closed the door and made sure the tiny door window was covered with a piece of paper. The lights were off, and the only source of light was the rays of morning sun shining through the slit in the drawn curtains. 

Jackson automatically reached up to rub his sore neck, casting Elsa a dark glare. "Jesus, Arendelle," he said. "Are you trying to strangle me?"

Elsa had her hands clenched into fists at her sides, and she took three threatening steps towards him so they were toe to toe. Her cold blue eyes were focused on him, practically glowing in the dimly lit space.

"How did you know?" she hissed, her voice barely raising her voice above a whisper. Probably afraid of someone outside the classroom overhearing them. 

Even though he was perfectly aware of how powerful she was, he wasn't about to make things easier for her. "How did I know what?" he asked casually, tilting his head to the side in question. When he saw her eyes narrow into a livid glare, he automatically tensed. He really hoped she wouldn't turn him into a popsicle, his actual body definitely wouldn't take well to that. "You gotta be specific."

"How did you know that I was the Snow Queen?" she sneered, crossing her arms over chest with a look of condescending disdain.

Jackson mirrored her stance, crossing his arms and tilting his chin up. He smirked at her, causing the scowl on her face to deepen. "I took a wild guess," he said with a shrug. He gave her a dry look. "After the incident where you shoved me into the lockers."

Elsa looked startled by that statement, leaning back in surprise. He could see the wheels turning in her mind as she tried to recall the moment he was referring to, and what had caused her secret to slip. 

Jack decided to be merciful and give her head a rest. Though it did feel kinda good to know something she didn't know. He sidestepped her and walked over to the line of desks facing the front of the classroom. "You had a bit ice on your hands at the time," he said, taking a seat on top of the centre desktop. He glanced at her hands and noticed that even now she had a soft dusting of frost on her fingers. "You should probably get a handle on that."

Elsa uncrossed her arms, suddenly looking self conscious. She clasped her hands behind her back and regarded him suspiciously. 

"So you noticed my hands had some ice on them?" Elsa asked with a skeptical lilt in her tone. "That's all it took to know I was an unnatural with ice powers?"

"It was enough to entertain the idea," Jack replied, bracing his hands behind him and leaning back. "But when the Snow Queen made her first appearance, I had a pretty good idea of who was behind the mask. I mean you had the same hair, same height. And I didn't know of any other unnaturals with powers like mine."

"Neither did I," Elsa replied softly, glancing off to the side in contemplation. "So it was because you had ice powers, that made you jump to the conclusion that I had ice powers as well?"

"Guess it gave me in edge in the game," he answered, looking up at the dark ceiling. It was true. If it weren't for Jack Frost, he probably wouldn't have thought Elsa was an unnatural. Probably would have been on the same clueless boat as everyone else when it came to the Snow Queen. 

"And you used your powers to rob a pawnshop?" she continued in disbelief. 

Jack fixed a glare on her, his lip twitching in irritation. "Don't you start judging me Arendelle," he snapped, hopping off the desk and walking towards her with purposeful steps. "I needed that money. Not that you would know about something like that."

This seemed to strike a nerve since Elsa visibly bristled at the comment. "You're right," she said with a snooty air. "I have no idea what it's like to have such little regard for other people that I'd be willing to put myself before them."

"Don't even pretend to be on the moral high ground Elsa," he sneered distastefully. "You're only in this hero gig for the attention."

Elsa scoffed and crossed her arms again. "At least I'm somewhat competent at what I do," she retorted with a look of amusement. "You robbed one pawnshop and immediately got caught."

"You think that Pawn shop was my first time," Jack said with a cocky grin. "I've robbed high security national banks without a trace. I've been doing this for a lot longer than you've been out playing superhero."

Elsa rose an eyebrow and looked over him with doubtful eyes. Eyes that seemed to be accusing him of lying. "Is that so?"

"Yeah," he replied, straightening out his posture. "That's so. I've been doing this since since I was fourteen."

Elsa's eyes widened a fraction, as she took in what he told her. Even he knew that three years of these gigs without being discovered once was pretty impressive. "So if that pawnshop wasn't the first place you robbed," Elsa whispered in astonishment. "Then how many places have you stolen from."

"More than you can count," Jackson bragged with a smirk, proud of getting a rise out of her. 

"Well you're not going to anymore," Elsa shot back, taking threatening steps towards him. "You're going to give up this whole thief business."

"Uh, sorry," Jack snickered. "No dice. Just because you're the new super kid on the block does not mean you get to order me around."

Elsa offered a mocking smile. "How's this then," she started with a fake sweetness in her voice. "If you don't stop then I'll make sure that you're locked away where no one will hear from you ever again."

"How exactly are you gonna do that?" Jack asked, snark embedded in his tone. He leaned forward with his hands behind his back, mocking her stature and glared at her with sharp eyes. "Even if you do have me incarcerated, I'll only be going to juvie anyway. There's only evidence that I stole from a pawnshop and a discount jewelry store, not exactly maximum security worthy crime. And if you do send me to jail, I'll tell everyone about who you really are." He leaned back again, regaining his relaxed appearance. "Face it, you're in a box Ice Princess."

Elsa didn't show any signs of distress or rage, which is what he had expected from her. Instead, she smirked at him with an arch of her eyebrow. She pulled out the smart phone that had been tucked into the waistband of her skirt. The voice recording app was displayed on the screen. 

"That's kinda the reason I'm recording this conversation," she said with a tilt of her head. 

Jack stared at the phone in shock, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks. Damn it! She had been leading him on that whole time, and he fell for it. He practically confessed his entire criminal career in order to show her up. He really should have seen that coming. But this girl was a lot smarter than he had expected her to be.

"Oh," was the lame response that managed to make it out of his mouth. Jack shook his head vigorously to get a grip on his words. He forced out a disbelieving laugh. "That's not gonna work. I'll still be able to tell people who you are."

"No actually you won't," Elsa corrected. "My best friend is the son of the commissioner. If I personally give him this confession and the tape of your robbery, he'll make sure you get sent to supermax, where nobody is going to listen to your claims."

The thought of getting sent to maximum security prison made his heart pound like a jackhammer. It would have burst from his chest if it was possible. He wouldnt be able to take care of his sister. Hell he wouldn't be able to see her or his mother ever again. 

Jackson didn't betray his emotions when he puffed his chest out and looked down at her with a challenging gaze. "They're not gonna send a kid to Supermax."

Elsa tilted her head to the side and narrowed her gaze. "You wanna bet," she said. "You just confessed to stealing from several national banks. The government isn't to fond of unnaturals to begin with. How do you think they'll react when they find out someone like you is stealing from their banks? This evidence along with the tape I got of you robbing that jewellery store is all I need to get you locked up."

Jackson didn't have a snappy retort prepared for that. She had him in a box now. Even with her secret identity under his belt, she had much more dirt on him now than he ever had on her. He had to say that he was impressed with her acting chops along with her ability to manipulate. He didn't think she had it in her. 

"Black mail huh," Jackson commented idly. "One of your less heroic talents."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "This isn't blackmail," she argued.

Jackson couldn't help but snort at that. How diluted by her own pretentiousness could she get? Did she really think she was still morally clean after all this. Talk about self important. "No, Arendelle, I'm pretty damn sure that it is."

"It's insurance for me," Elsa stated diplomatically. "So you don't reveal my identity. The real reason I'm here is to offer you a deal."

Brown eyes narrowed in suspicion. Elsa only smiled through the distrustful look he gave her. "A deal?"

Elsa opened her mouth to continue, but before she could get a word our, the classroom door was slammed open. Both of the teens turned to the doorway and found the history teacher standing before them, a large cup of copy in his hand and a dour expression on his face. His eyes seemed to glaze over a stiff and nervous Elsa, but when he caught sight of Jackson, his tired eyes lit up with angry fire.

"Ey," the teacher called out in a thick Australian accent. He walked past the pair, towards his desk where he placed the cup down. He didn't turn around as he addressed Jack. "Overland, that's strike five."

"What?" Jackson yelled in protest. He pointed at Elsa, accusingly. "I didn't do anything! She was the one that dragged me in here."

Green eyes flickered to Elsa, who was now awkwardly shuffling her feet, unable to meet the teacher's gaze. Poor kid, Jackson thought with a barely concealed smirk. Probably her first instance of getting in trouble with an authority figure. A teacher's pet, through and through. 

"Arendelle," the history teacher addressed with a pointed look at her. She managed to meet his gaze for a second before immediately looking to the floor again. "You could do a lot better."

At that Elsa's head snapped up and her eyebrows shot up in alarm. Her mouth hanging in shock prevented her from denying what he was implying.

"Hey!" Jackson shouted in response to the insult.

"No, Mr Bunnymound," she scrambled to say. "That's not what's happening here. We were just discussing-"

"Look I don't care what you two were 'discussing'" Mr Bunnymound stated with exaggeration in the word discussing. His eyes were completely indifferent as he stared the pair down. "Just don't do it in my classroom."

"No, seriously Bunny," Jack joined in. "That's not what was happening. We were-" he paused and looked to Elsa for support.

"We were..." The words were lost from her lips. She thought for a moment before continuing. "Fighting. We were in the middle of a fight."

"But not like a lovers quarrel kind of fight," Jack added, causing Elsa to shoot a look of disgust his way for his choice of words. "More of a 'give me your lunch money' kind of fight. You gotta use the good old high school cliches. Pretty sure she was just about to stuff me in a locker."

Jackson cracked a joking smile, which Aster Bunnymound rebutted with a deadpan stare. 

"Get out."

"Yes sir," the two of them responded in unison before quickly heading out the door. They both walked away from the uncomfortable situation as quickly as they could.

The hallways were filled with less people now, but there was still a little time before first period would start. Noticing the time on the clock, Elsa immediately started walking towards English, leaving Jackson still reeling from everything that had just happened. 

She had him trapped. If Jack Frost went out again, there was a chance she could find out. A chance she would know what he did and then get him sent to supermax. He couldn't leave things as they were. After a moment of deliberation, Jackson was hit with the sudden initiative to convince her not to do this. Maybe appeal to her softie emotional hero side.

"Elsa! Wait!" Jackson called to her before she could get to far. He ran to catch up with her and then grabbed her hand in order to halt her in her steps. Eyes wide as saucers, she whipped around to look at him. He couldn't help but notice how strikingly blue her eyes were in the pale light of the hallway. At this point, there were more than a few people watching them. Jackson whispered his next words to avoid the chance of someone eavesdropping. "I need that money. Please, I only need a bit more."

Like he had hoped, his desperate words sucked her in. Her eyes softened considerably, and she seemed conflicted with her own decisions. 

"Meet me in the basketball court after school," she whispered rapidly. She ripped her hand out of his and walked as fast as she could towards English class, leaving a confused Jackson and flurry of nosey students in her wake. 

Jackson couldn't help but think that that whole thing could've gone a lot better for him. 

~Elsa~

The outside basketball court was placed in a precarious position at the side of the school, right to the side of another building. The entire court was fenced off to prevent kids from using the school's side door that lead out to the court and skipping classes. If you were leaving the school, you had to use a front door. Because of the court being fenced off, and due to it being on the side of the school opposite to the parking lot, the students completely avoided the area at the end of the day. And at this time of year, basketball season was over, making it impossible to be interrupted by a practicing team. These details made it the perfect meeting spot for what Elsa had in mind.

Minutes after Elsa arrived at the scene, the doors were pushed open and Jackson walked onto the court. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and his eyes shifted around the area, scanning for any potential threat to his identity. 

"So what's your deal?" he asked, not looking in her direction in favour of keeping his eyes on his surroundings, thinking that some unsuspecting student would pop up from any corner. 

"I wanna know why you need the money first," Elsa said in response, eyes narrowed threateningly and arms crossed over her chest. She felt like she was giving an interrogation. 

Jackson still didn't look at her as he paced the area. He had probably never had his true situation so exposed. Elsa had to wonder how many people in his life knew what he was doing, or the fact that he was an unnatural. 

"Trying to build up a college fund for my little sister," he replied offhandedly. "So what's the deal?"

Elsa was a little startled to discover that he had a younger sister. She had always thought he was an only child, and Elsa found it a bit concerning that someone like Jackson was a role model to anyone. Though he could just be pulling her leg in order to get sympathy points. But his answer satisfied her at that point. If he was actually telling the truth, it would give her better incentive for the deal she had formulated in her head back in that classroom. Even now, she wasn't so sure about it herself. 

"Show me your powers," Elsa ordered, hands placed firmly on her hips. This caused Jack's gaze to snap back to her. His face contorted into a look of confusion. 

"Why?" he asked, perplexed with the sudden request. 

"Well, if you're going to be working with me as another superhero, I'm going to have to see what you can do," Elsa answered in complete honesty. 

She knew that Jackson's reaction to her suggestion would not be automatically positive. But she was going to stand firm on her decision. She had to, now that the idea had been said out loud. Even though she really wasn't fond of him, Elsa had to admit that Jackson's powers were useful. He could do a lot of good, instead of the thievery he had previously been doing. 

Jackson snorted. "Your plan is to get me to play the hero game?" he asked in disbelief, chuckling to himself. "Sorry princess, but that's not my style."

"I don't really care," Elsa shot back, standing tall and refusing to weaken her stance. "You have a power and you can use it to help people. With great power comes great responsibility."

"Yeah thanks, Arendelle," he said sarcastically. "We've all seen spiderman. It's not like you need any help in defending the city anyway. You've already got a partner. Who was that, by the way? The girl from the other night."

He didn't know who Merida was. It made sense, the only reason he was able to guess her identity was because he knew about her powers. The night they caught him in the middle of his robbery, Merida's primary identifier, her red hair, had been tucked out of sight. And Elsa wasn't going to reveal her friends identity to him as well. The more information she kept from him the better. Who knew how well he could keep a secret. Though he did a pretty good job of keeping his own secrets.

"Artemis," she answered, the name feeling uncomfortable. She still wasn't on board with Merida's determination to be a superhero. But she wasn't willing to point out that her 'partner' was in fact her crazy best friend who insisted that she needed back up. "And this isn't about me needing you on my team. This is about you making up for all the money and stuff you've stolen. Think of it as community service."

Jackson scowled at her distrustfully. As if she were the untrustworthy one here. "And what do I get out of this deal. You've failed to highlight any benefits for me."

Elsa couldn't help but roll her eyes at his self centred nature. It's not like she could expect Jackson to desire to reconcile for the things he had done. "Shockingly enough, not everything needs to revolve around you. Being a hero doesn't come with a pay check, but I'm willing to offer compensation for your cooperation."

Jackson reeled back in surprise, a lost expression on his face. He slowly pieced together everything she said. "You want to pay me to be a superhero."

"Correct," she answered with a curt nod, taking on the form of a negotiating business woman. 

"Then I respectfully decline," he said, the word respectfully dripping with insincerity. He looked her down with hardened eyes. He showed no sign of yielding, but Elsa could see he was tempted by the way his hands shook with anxiety. The offer was a good one, that was why she made it. Someone like Jackson wouldn't resist the allure of the Arendelle fortune. She knew it, even as he denied her offer, that he was seriously considering in his head. "I'm not going to be the newest addition to the island of misfit toys."

Elsa shrugged in response to his denial of her proposal. And she could see the her nonchalance took him by surprise. "Alright," she replied as she turned away from the boy and walked towards the doors. He had been right before, it wasn't like she needed him. "If you don't need the money than that's fine." She waved her hand dismissively as she walked away from him, not looking back to where he stood. 

"Wait!"

At the sound of his sharp call, Elsa turned her head to look back at him. Jackson stood stiff as a board, resistant expression on his face. She stared at him expectantly as he rocked back and forth on his heals. His hesitance was either for the sake of his pride or because he genuinely didn't think she was willing to help him. Elsa would bet it was the former reason, but she wasn't a hundred percent sure. 

"I can't show you here," Jackson mumbled, seeming uncomfortable in his own skin. He looked behind him again, as if he was suspecting to find someone watching him. "The source of my powers is in my apartment."

Elsa crossed her arms and looked at him quizzically. She hadn't expected that reason. It would explain how he was able to hide his powers so well while she wasn't. "So you're not really an unnatural. Your powers don't actually come from you, they come from an item."

Jackson shrugged his shoulders at this statement, a conflicted expression on his face. "Kinda but not really," he said, causing Elsa to stare at him in confusion. "It's difficult to explain."

Elsa sighed in frustration and rolled her eyes. "Then take me to your place and show me," she demanded, her voice stern and her form straightened with authority. 

Jackson sized her up with a skeptical gaze, looking at her with a judgemental shine in his eyes. "You sure you want that princess?" he asked. "My place might not be up to your standards. Wouldn't want you to live without the splendour."

Elsa's lips turned into a deep frown and she resisted the urge to snap at him. She hated that he only thought of her as a spoiled brat who hadn't worked a day in her life. In fact she hated that a lot of people saw her that way. "I think I can manage," she answered with restrained contempt. "Take me to your apartment so we can get this over with." 

Jackson rose an eyebrow at her commanding nature and overwhelming confidence. A smirk twitched at his lips when hearing her command. "Of course, your highness," he replied with a tilt of his head. His brown eyes seemed to sparkle, even while being lit up by the dull grey sky. He held out his arm like he was from the eighteenth century. "Shall we."

Elsa made sure to give him a pointed glare as she turned away from him and walked towards the side door of the school. She could hear his soft laughter as he followed behind her. She would need a lot more patience if she was going to have to deal with this guy as a partner. She groaned internally at the thought.


	14. Clash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Light is meaningful only in relation to darkness, and truth presupposes error. It is these mingled opposites which people our life, which make it pungent, intoxicating. We only exist in terms of this conflict, in the zone where black and white clash."
> 
> Louis Aragon

~Elsa~

Elsa did her best not to show how uncomfortable she was. Jack was expecting a reaction from her, and she certainly wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. The apartment building was more rundown than she had been expecting. The wall paper was peeling, the ceiling was stained, showing clear signs of water damage, some of the apartment doors were chipped, and the carpet of the hallway was ripped up. It was a far cry from the well maintained rooms of her family estate, or even the pristine condition of her own condo building. Each step she made created an echoing squeak when she put her foot down. Each breath she took filled her nostrils with an unpleasant odour. She was definitely out of her element.

Still, Elsa kept her chin up as Jack begrudgingly led her towards his apartment. Occasionally her classmate would cast her a glance over his shoulder, so their eyes could meet for half a second, only to then immediately turn back. She could tell by his closed off posture and the flashes of nervousness in his eyes that he was very unhappy with this situation. It was understandable, Elsa could admit that. She had him in a box, and was forcing him farther into the corner by exposing more and more of his secrets. It would be a frustrating situation for anyone.

Elsa felt a bit guilty for invading his life like this. Forcing her way into his home. Forcing him to put his powers on display and show her what he could do. She knew that if she was in his position, fear and anxiety would flow through her like blood. She probably wouldn't be able to breathe. The thought of putting her powers on display as herself instead of her masked alter ego never failed to make her uneasy. But the knowledge of him stealing from random shop owners for personal gain lessened her guilt a bit.

Coming up to a worn door with rusted metal numbers displaying his address, Jackson turned to her with a sardonic smile. "Home sweet home."

After he jiggled his key within the lock a few times, Jackson opened the door. He motioned for her to enter and she quickly did, casting him a distrustful glance on the way. Stepping through the open doorway, Elsa took in her surroundings. This apartment had clearly seen better days, but it wasn't in as bad of shape as the hallway outside. Obviously someone made sure to keep the flat at least a bit presentable.

Elsa turned her head back to Jack as he closed the door with a heavy thud. With brown eyes narrowed, he gave Elsa the coldest stare she had ever received. She returned the look, straightening her back and crossing her arms. Pride emanated from both of them, and they stared each other down with a challenging spark in their eyes, daring the other to make the first move. Before either of them could say a word, a third voice ripped through the tension.

"Hey Jack!" a young female voice exclaimed from behind her.

Elsa turned to see a young girl, probably in her preteens, jogging towards her and Jackson from the other side of the room. There was a noticeable resemblance to Jackson in the girl. They shared the same chocolate brown eyes and the same chestnut hair. Even the sunny smile on her face was eerily similar to the wicked grin that would usually grace Jackson's lips. Catching sight of Elsa, there was a spark of mischievousness in the girls eyes and her joyous smile morphed into a playful smirk. She stopped in her tracks in front of a startled Elsa, shifting her gaze to Jackson for a split second before looking back at the blonde.

"Hellooooo," she greeted, letting the word roll off her tongue and her voice raise in pitch. She stuck out her hand. "I'm Pippa, Jackson's sister."

Blue eyes widened a fraction at the quick introduction. Actually seeing Jackson's sister in front of her was more than a little surprising. So he hadn't been lying about that. Did it mean he had been stealing in order to support her future? It wouldn't be surprising, given the state of the apartment they lived in. She doubted they had much in terms of savings.

Elsa took the hand offered to her and shook it lightly. She offered a polite smile. It didn't seem to compare to the twenty watt grin of Jackson's sister. She wondered if this girl and the boy beside her shared the same observational skills. It would be difficult not to note how cold Elsa's hands were in that moment.

"Elsa," she replied. When her hand was released she tucked both her arms behind her back. "Nice to meet you."

The girl's gaze didn't leave her and the knowing smile on her lips made Elsa shift uncomfortably. Did she know of her brother's double life? Had Jackson told her about the Snow Queen's true identity?

Jackson stepped forward and ruffled Pippa's brunette locks with his hand, and Elsa was stunned by how light and joyous his smile was. It was like looking into the face of a child instead of a cocky teen. Looking down at his sister seemed to make him forget about her presence and wiped all former hostility from his eyes.

"Hey Pip," he greeted, laughing a bit as the girl shoved his hand out of her now tangled hair. "Elsa's just here to," he paused for a moment, thinking of a convincing lie. "Finish up a school project, due tomorrow."

Pippa lifted a skeptical brow as she cocked a hip out to the side. The irritated glint in her eyes at having her hair messed up was replaced with a flash of suggestiveness. "A project huh?" she asked with a complete lack of belief. "Is that what you kids are calling it these days?"

Jackson crossed his arms and cast a look of annoyance at his younger sister, reminding Elsa of the look she would give Anna when she tried especially hard to get on her nerves.

"I have no idea what you're implying Pip," Jack stated flippantly. "But I think you should go back to you're room before you start making wild assumptions"

"Why?" Pippa asked with narrowed eyes and a mocking smirk. She tilted her head like a confused puppy, a look of faux innocence on her face. "Am I embarrassing you in front of your new GIRLFRIE-"

A hand clamped over the young teen's mouth, cutting off her sentence, though Elsa was already sure of what she was going to say. Though the word was never completed, Elsa flushed in embarrassment as if it had been screamed from the rooftop.

Jackson quickly ripped his hand away with a disgusted yelp. "Gross! Don't lick my hand!"

The delighted giggle that escaped the girls lips prompted her brother to cast her a dangerous grin, a spark of madness in his wide brown eyes.

"Oh, you asked for it."

Elsa watched in stunned silence as Jack wrapped a firm arm around his sisters waist in order to hoist her off the ground. He slung the struggling girl over his shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes. Pippa's legs were flailing in the air as she yelled out loud protests through fits of laughter. Jackson carried the girl off the room that was closest to them, which Elsa assumed was his sister's bedroom.

Cautiously, she followed behind them, unsure how to act in this entire situation. This was a side of Jackson that she didn't even know existed. A soft and joyful side that she hadn't contemplated when she blackmailed him into keeping her secret, or when she planned on extorting his unnatural abilities for her benefit.

She hadn't prepared for meeting Jackson's family. She hadn't prepared for him showing anyone affection of any kind. For some reason, when she thought of Jackson during all their years of high school together, she imagined him to be the typical rebellious teen. The type to be distant and rude to his family while being caught spray painting the sides of museum buildings.

Sure, he was still a thief and a jerk, but it seemed like her first impressions were more than a little faulty. That fact was enough to throw her for a loop.

The shallow impression she had of him was shifting rapidly these past two days. She never would have guessed that he would have powers. She never would have guessed that he would be using these powers for several years to commit several accounts of robbery. She never would have guessed that he had a sister, who loved and cared for him and who he loved and cared for in return.

There was clearly a lot more to Jackson than she would have ever thought.

Elsa contemplated silently, thousands upon thousands of thoughts running through her head as she tried to wrap her mind around this other version of Jackson. Meanwhile, the boy and question was slamming his sister's bedroom door in her face, despite her giggling protests.

He turned to Elsa in a flash and latched onto her wrist. The blonde would have ripped herself away if she weren't so shocked by the sudden movement.

"We gotta move before she comes after us," Jack claimed as he dragged a petrified Elsa down the hall, not noticing the stunned expression on her face. He quickly whipped both of them into the next room and shut the door as soon as they were both inside. It was only when the door locked with a satisfying click that Jackson was able to breathe.

He turned to look at Elsa over his shoulder, who was now absently rubbing her newly released wrist. One could take him for sheepish with the way he rubbed the back of his neck, fingers tangling in the more unruly strands of hair.

"Sorry about that," he apologized, leaning against his door. His body slumped with exhaustion. "She's not one for first impressions but her weirdness grows on you."

"She seems nice," Elsa commented with a nervous smile. She paused as she looked towards the now closed door, imagining the girl on the other side. She lowered her voice to a whisper before speaking again. "Does she know...about you?"

The sharp glare he gave her was the only answer she needed. He stared at her for a moment, as if trying to gage her next move. Elsa could only guess what he was thinking as he turned away from her. Jackson didn't look at her again as he walked towards an old dresser, pushed against the far wall. His hands gripped the siding, nails digging into the wood grain. His back continued to face her, and she could see the tension between is shoulder blades.

"Please don't tell her," he whispered, his voice becoming so much softer than she thought possible. He took a deep breath that caused his shoulders to rise high and fall low. "If she knew..."

His words trailed off and left a hollow silence. It didn't stop her from filling in the blanks of that final sentence. After all, Elsa had a younger sister who looked up to her as well. This fact alone may have been the reason for the truth that solidified on her tongue.

"I won't tell her," she whispered, trailing her hand up and down her forearm. The speckles of ice clinging to her uniform blazer.

Brown eyes met blue, looking wider and more innocent than they ever had before. As her classmate turned his head, ever so slowly, Elsa could see the vulnerable and raw expression. There was a shadow of relief in his face and hint of gratitude in the corner of his eyes. He was so human in that moment, leaving no traces of the walking high school cliche she had seen skateboarding the halls day after day. It made her feel even more like an intruder.

Elsa decided to woman up and ask the question that was nagging in the back of her mind, even though she was unsure if he would answer it truthfully. "Jackson," she started, nearly loosing her nerve before continuing. "If you think she'll be disappointed in what your doing, why are you doing it?"

The gratitude slunk away and his eyes turned to stone, even though Elsa could clearly see the cracks. She had never noticed how his emotions seemed to pour from him, how he was always fully enveloped by them. She had never really looked so closely.

Jackson sighed before speaking. Elsa could hear the wood creak as he released his grip on the dresser top. He was facing her fully now but refused to look in her direction. "When I was fourteen, something happened me," he explained, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Pip and I went ice skating and I fell...through the ice, into the water."

Elsa's eyes widened a fraction at that statement. She lowered herself down onto the bed as Jackson continued. He reached behind the dresser, never breaking in speech.

"I was pulled out of the water before I could drown." He pulled a long stick with a curved end out from behind the dresser. "But I was unconscious and I couldn't wake up."

Elsa was quick to recognize the long shepherd's staff in his hands. The thin lining of frost seemed to crackle in his grasp, growing thicker and swirling more elaborately. It was the same stick he had been holding when she caught him the night before.

"After being pulled out of the water, I was in a coma for two months," he admitted quietly, gripping the staff so tightly that she could hear his skin straining against the wood. "And my mom blew all her savings on my treatment. She was only trying to keep me alive. But she didn't have much to begin with. She was already in debt when I woke up."

Elsa nodded slowly, understanding what he was getting at. "And that's what you needed the money for," she concluded. It explained why he would be desperate enough to negotiate with her. He needed to pay off his mother's debts, and he would resort to stealing in order to help her out. She remembered how he said he needed the money for his sister. And given the fact that his mother was so entrenched in hospital debts, she didn't find it hard to believe that part of his motivation was ensuring his sister's future.

Elsa idly wondered if she would have ever resorted to stealing for Anna's sake of she were in more desperate circumstances.

Jackson only nodded in response, his eyes lingering along the coarse ridges of the stick. His fingers rhythmically thrummed against the wood, giving an air of indecision and impatience. He didn't speak for a long while, lost within his own musings. Elsa couldn't help the awkward shuffling at her feet as the discomfort gnawed deep within her gut.

"Ugh," she growled, slinging her backpack around so she could reach inside. Digging around the front pocket, she pulled out a small check book with a huff. "How much do you need exactly?"

Jackson's head jerked up and he stared back at Elsa with wide eyes. "But...I thought-"

"Look, I need to give you the right amount so that you never steal again," she said.

Jackson's eyes narrowed upon hearing her statement, his face hardening within a single beat. "I'm not a charity case," he sneered, lips twitching with barely restrained rage.

"It's not charity," she snapped back. "Think of it as a bribe. Extra insurance so you won't reveal my identity to anyone."

"What about your whole 'hero for hire' angle?" he shot back with a skeptical arch of his brow.

"I don't need the help," Elsa answered honestly, putting her hands on her hips. She managed enough perseverance to ignore the soft scoffing sound he made to continue with her explanation. "And I don't want to force you to be a hero. Nothing good would ever come of that."

Jackson's face skewered in offence and confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Elsa rolled her eyes before continuing. "Look, if you want to do something worthwhile, then it has to be your choice," she said, tugging a pen out of her pack's side pocket. She scribbled a rough estimate of what he needed on the check. "You can't expect other people to shove you along the right path."

She shoved the check into his hands. Before he could throw it back at her, he caught sight of the number she wrote onto the check. It was apparently enough to leave him frozen stiff.

"Is it enough or not?"

He could only stare dumbly at the paper within his hands before offering a hesitant nod. Elsa only then allowed herself a slight sigh of relief, relatively glad that he didn't put up a fuss.

"If I catch you out stealing again," she warned, voice low and face coming threateningly close to his. "I won't hesitate to give my evidence to the police and get you incarcerated for life.

Before he could stop her, Elsa headed towards the door, mentally kicking herself for her weak will power. It may have been useful to have someone like Jack Frost on her side, but the idea of blackmailing someone into working for her, even a jerk like Jackson, left her uneasy in the gut. Finding out about his family and his motivation made her even more unsure of herself.

In the end she would rather just put this entire thing behind her than spend another minute fighting with herself over questionable morality. God knows she had had enough of that in her life.

So Elsa left the small apartment without a word, a few thousand dollars poorer and all too happy to forget this lapse in judgment.

Unfortunately for her, she had already set things in motion. Besides, fate had a way of playing out, despite all attempts to avoid it.

~Poor Shmuck~

Too much tequila, not enough water, not enough energy and definitely not enough warmth. Where the hell did he put his coat? Had he left it at her house?

Well screw that then, he would rather freeze his ass off on this beach than go crawling back to that shrew. He didn't need her or that damn coat.

Beach.

God, he hadn't even noticed he had been walking towards the beach until he was standing amongst the pale sand. Their beach. The beach where she would dig her wet feet under the sand, and watch in amazement as it rolled of in clumps. The beach where he would take a dollop of sunscreen and bop it onto her adorable nose. The beach where he believed he would have proposed to her, if she hadn't been such a huge pain.

He kicked at the sand with a clunky winter boot, watching as the grains scattered in the overwhelmingly strong wind. Christ, it was freezing. And with the kinds of winds he saw, there was no doubt that a storm was coming. He should find some shelter. Maybe the nearest bar. Getting more drunk could only help him at this point.

Casting one last look at the rolling waves, that were getting choppier with every gust of wind, he turned towards the stairs that would lead him back to the path that went down town. Only to freeze mid turn.

His brain registered what he had just caught a glimpse of, causing him to turn back and look out at the ocean once more. Had he really just seen that?

Within the roaring tides, he could just make it out. A dark shape that bobbed at the surface of the water. It seemed to be moving towards the shore. It was too dark to see it clearly, and with the lack of streetlights or man made lights of any kind, it was near impossible to tell what he was looking at.

Out of curiosity, he wandered closer to the crashing waves. With a bit of a better look, he could tell it wasn't some kind of water marker to warn of boats. No the shape seemed almost like a head. Though perhaps that was the tequila screwing with his vision.

However, even in his drunken state, he couldn't have been hallucinating the head getting closer and rising out of the water. The head was followed by the broad shoulders and chest of a solidly built man, dressed like a barbarian from one of those old movies. He was starting to doubt that this was merely the tequila.

The man waded through the roaring waves like they were nothing, marching towards the shore. He was enormous, nearly seven feet with thick muscles and an huge Viking axe in his hand to boot. He looked like one of those body builders that you only could ever find on google images. But the thing that through him the most of about this burly man were the eyes. Beady eyes that were darkened by the shallow black rings that surrounded them, but had a glowing white reflexion over the iris.

What the hell was this ren fest reject doing in the freaking sea?

He could only stand there in stunned silence as the man made it to shore, the heavy boots he wore sinking into the wet sand. The barbarian observed the area that surrounded him in mild interest, only letting out an occasional grunt of breath.

"Jesus," he couldn't help but mutter. This single word drew the barbarians attention, causing those glowing eyes to hook into him. "What happened to you, man? Are you okay?"

The man made a low noise, sounding almost like a growl. "What is this place?" the barbarian rumbled, in what was probably the deepest and most gruff voice he had ever heard. He had a thick Scottish brogue that made it difficult to understand.

"Um, Insinius," he answered, voice shaking when he met this enormous man's threatening stare.

The man didn't seem to react to the cities name, he just let it roll off him like water. He looked around once again, scanning the beach like a man on a mission. He was looking for something.

"Were you in some kind of boat accident or something?" he asked. It was the only reason he could think of that would explain why this guy had just walked out of the ocean without a clue as to where he was.

The barbarian looked at him again, eyes somehow sharper and more deadly than before. He ignored the question for favour of his own. "Where is the dragon?"

His eyes widened at that. Okay, maybe this guy wasn't the victim of some boat crash. Maybe he was just nuts. That would explain a lot.

Feeling the inherent danger of being on a deserted beach with a mad man wielding a large axe was enough to sober him up. At least enough to get his priorities in order. Immediately, he began to back away from the Scotsman. He had to make it to the stairs and just make a break for it. There was no way he was sticking around.

In order to evade suspicions, he stuttered out a reply. "I don't know what you're talking about, man," he let out a small laugh, because this was ridiculous and couldn't possibly be happening. He didn't have enough control in his limbs to stop himself from stumbling as he backed away. He tripped over his own feet and fell back with a thump. The man standing above him simply watched. The glowing eyes traced over their surroundings once again, twitching when they didn't find what they were looking for.

"If you're keeping the night fury from me, you are disrespecting me and my clan," the rough voice growled, sounding increasingly inhuman. "And I will not let that stand."

He watched in frozen fear as dark thick hairs sprouted from the man's pours, growing at an impossible rate. The man's face shifted and malformed before his very eyes into the face of an animal, facial bones cracking and jutting out against their nature. He grew in size, arms and legs becoming thicker and longer, until he was nearly twice his previous height. His hands morphed into enormous paws with razor sharp claws and the axes he held dropped to the sand with a heavy thud. As his transformation was nearly completed, he let out a battle cry that that turned into a monstrous roar before his lungs gave out.

Where there was once a man, there was now an huge black bear. The only thing that remained the same were those sharp glowing eyes.

He couldn't move. He couldn't even breathe. He saw her face for a moment in the back of his mind, and wished he had never left her apartment. The last thing he ever saw was the swipe of a giant paw before its black claws ripped through the flesh of his face.


End file.
